Momoku No Kitsune
by babywolf-lover
Summary: Summary: When Naru was 9 years old she went completely blind because of an attack. Sarutobi was able to find her in time and got her specially trained even though she couldn't see. She becomes a genin at 12 and joins team 7. How much different would the story be with Naru being blind? Rating: T-M
1. Naru Uzumaki

_**This is just a side upload, not a full return! See profile for more**_

 _ **Chapter 1.**_

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandiame Hokage of Konohagakure, walked up the steps of the rundown apartment complex. As he walked to the last door at the end of the hallway he stopped and knocked on the door. He waited silently until he finally heard shuffling from the other side.

"Saru?" a small feminine voice sounded through the closed door.

"Yes." He replied back. The door opened and he smiled at the small girl standing in front of him. She was rather short for her age, only 4'8". She had golden blonde hair that was currently up in a ponytail with some of her bangs hanging right down the middle of her face covering her Hitai-ate. She had really light blue eyes and three whisker marks on each cheek.

She stepped back inside allowing him to enter her small apartment. He followed her inside and shut the door behind him and then went over to take a seat at the dining table. "How are you doing Naru?" he asked the 12 year old girl.

"You mean everything considered?" she retorted, which caused Hiruzen to chuckle a little while she sighed. "I'm doing okay, I think… I guess on some account, I kind of always knew." She said while shrugging.

"Well, you got to graduate." He said, she snorted.

"Is that really a good thing? Because I'm not entirely sure." She said with a sigh and sat down.

"It'll be okay Naru, and you are a Genin so the mission's won't be too ha-"

"I'm not worried about the missions, I'm worried about being on a team." She said. "You know I don't work well with others…" she said trailing off.

"Which is kind of strange considering…" he said, Naru snorted. "Did anyone figure it out at all?" he asked.

"No, I mean I don't think anyone did. I've trained myself and everything for so long to keep it up." She said with a shrug. "Soooo, who am I going to be teamed up with?" she finally asked, unable to wait to contain herself.

"Naru, you know I really shouldn't…" he started, but stopped after seeing her face. "But for you I can make an exception. Your teammates are going to be Haruno Sakura…" she groaned and tipped her head back. "And Uchiha Sasuke."

"Why don't you just put an anchor on my leg and push me off of a cliff?" she said, as he gave her a small smile. "It fit…" he said.

"And if they were fair over there, I would be with Shika and Hina." She said. "It should be that way, they were the only ones to figure out the truth." She said while rubbing her head. "Well, who is going to be my Sensei?"

"Hatake Kakashi." He replied.

"He doesn't know does he?" She asked with a small whine in the back of her throat.

"No, and if you don't want him to know, I won't tell him." He said.

"No please don't." she said, he nodded.

There was a pop and smoke hissed as it disappeared. Hiruzen saw her loyal summon Mamoru, a large snow leopard with bright blue eyes, a leather collar, and a vest that had the Uzumaki clan symbol on it. Mamoru was Naru's protector and rarely left her side.

"Hello Moru." Naru said, he came up and licked her cheek with a purr. She chuckled as he walked over and began to eat his supper that was already made up.

"Oh, I got you the Jutsu scrolls you asked about." Hiruzen said and pulled out the scroll and gave it to her. She smiled and accepted the scroll. "I have to get going." He said while getting up. "I just wanted to check on you after the whole Mizuki incident." He said, she nodded and looked up at him. He cupped her face and she smiled at him. "Do they bother you anymore?" he asked.

"No, there is…..nothing." she said sadly, a tear falling from her eye, which Hiruzen wiped away.

"It'll be okay Naru." He said, she nodded.

"Yeah." She whispered.

"You know how to get me if you need to." He said, she nodded with a smile which he returned. "Goodnight Naru." He said and left the apartment, closing the door behind him.

She sighed and opened the scroll and ran her fingers over the scroll and felt the small bumps on it, she 'read' the scroll with the bumps.

What were the bumps exactly? They were Braille. Why did she have a scroll with braille on it? It was simple really, because when Naru was 9 years old she went completely blind.

When she was 9 years old Naru went missing for two days. Hiruzen didn't stop searching for the girl he considered his own granddaughter. He finally found her in an alley, in a wounded and confused state, in the pouring rain on one of the coldest nights of the year. She had been beaten and left to die.

When he found the girl, he picked her up and carried her to his home and bandaged her a little and that's when she told him that she couldn't open her eyes. She told him someone had hit her with some chakra and she hadn't been able to open her eyes and see anything since then. They had left her in a rundown building and she had managed to crawl her way out of the building into the alley that he had found her in. No one had helped the child because she held the feared Kyuubi no Kitsune, and if Hiruzen hadn't been out hunting for the child, she could have died there.

Hiruzen kept her in his house for two days until he had to travel to Suna for a meeting. He took her with him and took her to one of the top eye doctors who was currently in Sunagakure. He had examined her and got her to be able to open her eyes and heal some of the damage, but told them that because the damage was so extensive that she would never be able to see again.

The girl had been devastated and was ready to give up all hope in life, but Hiruzen came up with an idea and got her specially trained in secret, and as time went on her hearing heightened along with her sense of smell.

She learned how to 'see' with her ears, nose, and body. She learned how to read the air around her, to fell the vibrations in the ground. And she never acted like she couldn't see and continued on her path to becoming a ninja. Hiruzen even got her the summoning scroll of her mother's clan so that she would have a companion.

Naru smiled as she read the words then sighed. She stood up grabbing the scroll and walked down the hall into the extra room which she had turned into a practice/study room. She had a set of shelves with all of her scrolls on them. The floors were padded so she could work out, and she had a training dummy hanging in the corner.

She set the scroll down and began to focus and work on the new Jutsu Hiruzen brought her.

Mamoru came in and laid down on the side of the room watching her carefully to make sure that she didn't hurt herself.

After two hours of training Naru stood in the room panting hard and shaking. The clone in front of her disappeared as Mamoru stood up.

"Naru-sama, come. It's time for bed." He rumbled.

"A few more minutes." She said and moaned and put her hands on her knees. He growled and walked up, grabbing her shirt in his teeth. She whined as he dragged her along. He was large enough to drag the small girl along easily with no issues. He pulled her into her bedroom and let her go. He bumped her forward, and she stumbled slightly and walked over and searched. She found her pj's and changed. She crawled into her bed and covered herself up. Mamoru jumped on the bed with her and curled up next to her. She smiled and stroked his soft fur.

"Night Moru." She whispered as her eyes closed.

"Goodnight Naru." He purred as they both fell asleep.


	2. Meeting the team

_**Chapter 2. Meeting the Teams**_

The next morning Naru got dressed slowly and sighed. She found her hairbrush and fixed her hair the way she did before she lost her sight. "Moru, how do I look?" she asked her summon.

"Perfect." He purred. She nodded with a smile and grabbed her hatai-ate that she had gotten from Iruka. It had his scent all over it. She pulled it on her forehead and tied it under her bangs, feeling the metal making sure that it was on correct. She walked out of her room and found her small bag and grabbed a breakfast bar from the kitchen. She pulled her shoes on which were specially made just for her. They were designed so that she could feel the vibrations in the ground better.

"Ready." She said pulling her bag on. Mamoru moved forward and slid between her legs and lifted her up onto his back. She slid below his shoulders and held onto him. She reached out and opened the door. Mamoru walked out and turned around so she could shut and lock the door behind them before they left for the academy. After Naru put the key back around her neck Mamoru took off leaping across the rooftops towards the academy. Once they arrived he leapt down and landed softly and sighed.

"I'll be waiting." He said. She nodded and slid off his back. He gave her a nudge forward towards the doorway and she started to walk, counting each step in her head. She opened the door and headed in.

"Naru." Hinata's voice sounded from her left side. She smiled towards her only female friend. Hinata walked up and grabbed her arm, wrapping hers around it, and secretly led Naru to class. "I'm glad that you passed." She said to Naru, who gave a soft smile in return.

"Yeah me too, I was pretty nervous." She said and chuckled.

"Yeah, well maybe we'll be on the-"Hinata started to say.  
"We won't." Naru said dejectedly.

"What?! How do you know that?!" Hinata said giving a small whine.

"I asked Sandiame-sama last night…. I'm with Uchiha and Haruno." She said causing Hinata to cringe.

"I'm sorry." She said sadly. Naru gave a little chuckle.

"Meh…" she said shrugging. "I'm not looking forward to any of it."

Both girls walked to the top row and sat down together like normal. Shortly after they sat down Shikamaru walked up with a smirk and plopped down in the open seat on the other side of Naru, who blinked hearing the noise of a car moving next to her.

"Hey Naru." He said, she smiled at him and nodded. The three began to talk quietly about the teams as everyone else began to file in slowly.

The bell range finally and Iruka came in a minute later, giving everyone a big smile. "Well everyone, I have to say that I am so proud of each and every one of you for graduating." He said with a smile. He looked at Naru and cleared his throat. "Today is your last day in the academy and the last day that I will be your sensei." He said causing many of the students to erupt in cheers to finally be free from the academy, which caused him to develop a small tick mark above his left eye. "You're all going out into the world to become the amazing ninja's that I know you will be! I wish you all the best of luck out there in the world!" he said with a smile while the students were all grinning happily. "For today I will be giving you your teams and after lunch you will meet your new Sensei's" he said and opened the folder he had received from the Hokage. "Okay! Team 1" he said and began to list off students as well as their respective Sensei's. Naru sighed and waited for her team to be called.

"Team 7, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naru." He said causing Naru to sigh and put her head on the desk. Sakura meanwhile was jumping in the air cheering that she was with Sasuke while taunting Ino. Sasuke rolled his eyes not happy that he had to be placed with a team, he was an Uchiha. He was an elite! He shouldn't have to be paired up with these, amateurs!

"Team 8, Aburame Shino, Hyuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba." He said. Hinata leaned back in her seat and looked over at Naru who gave her a small smile.

"Team 9 is still operational from last year. Team 10 will be Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino." He finished.

"You are all free to go to lunch now, I suggest spending the time getting to know your new teammates, but that is entirely up to you." He said noticing that his former students had already decided that they were done listening to him since he was no longer their Sensei.

Naru, Hinata, and Shikamaru headed out together and went to the small field behind the school and sat under a tree to eat their lunches. Mamoru jumped down next to Naru, who smiled while petting his head. She began to eat her lunch and shared it with him as well.

"So, what are you going to do Naru?" Hinata asked. "I mean, will you tell them?"

"Nope." She replied. "I don't plan on telling anyone." She stated.

"Troublesome woman, then what will you do?" Shikamaru asked while sighing.

"I have Moru with me. " She said grinning while he purred. They nodded and continued to talk about their plans for a while.

"I wonder what kind of Sensei we will have." Hinata pondered aloud.

"Yeah. I hope I don't get one who's too troublesome." Shikamaru said yawning.

"Do you know your Sensei Naru? I mean you did find out your team from Sandiame-sama…" Hinata asked.

"Hatake Kakashi." Naru replied.

"I've heard of him before." Shikamaru said, Naru just shrugged.

The bell was about to ring so they made their way back into the classroom, however this time Mamoru walked in with her and hid in the back of the room behind her, Shikamaru, and Hinata.

As time rolled on Jonin entered the room and called out their students names. Students filed out one by one until only Naru, Mamoru, Sakura, and Sasuke were left there.

Mamoru jumped up to Naru who now sat in the front row, startling Sakura causing her to scream. He growled at her and laid next to Naru, who smiled and pet his head.

"WHAT AS THAT ANIMAL DOING HERE!?" Sakura shrieked.

"First of all he's not an animal." Naru snapped.

"Well WHAT is he then!?" Sakura demanded while slowly switching to another seat more than a little scared of the large animal.

"He is my summon, Mamoru." She said and sighed.

"Why do you-"Sakura started to ask.  
"Because I do!" she barked with an eye roll. Mamoru nudged her hand. She sighed and continued to pet him. Sakura watched the two warily from a few seats over while Sasuke glared angrily at her wondering why he, The Last Uchiha, didn't have a summon and she did.

It wasn't until the third hour passed before the door finally slid open and a Jonin stepped in. He had silver hair that stuck up defying all the laws of gravity, a leaf hatai-ate slanted across his head covering his left eye, and a skin tight mask over the lower part of his face that matched the Jonin uniform that he wore.

"Hmm." He said looking them over. "You all seem boring. Meet me on the roof in 5 minutes." He said and left the room.

"Well that was rude." Sakura said sighing and stood up chasing after Sasuke who had hurriedly left the room to head to the roof. Naru got up from her seat and got onto Mamoru's back who then proceeded to make his way to the stairs that headed to the roof.

Kakashi watched carefully as he saw his final student come up to the roof riding on the back of a snow leopard with an eyebrow raised in curiosity. She carefully got off of his back and started to sit down as he curled up behind her so that she would be leaning against him.

Sakura and Sasuke who had been standing the whole time since coming up to the roof decided to sit down, albeit with a little more space between them and the large leopard. Kakashi sighed at seeing this knowing that his job was going to be that much harder.

"Alright, I want you all to introduce yourselves one at a time." He said.

"What are we supposed to say Sensei?" Sakura inquired.

"Your likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future. Those kind of things." He said with a small shrug and cross his arms over his chest.

"Maybe you should go first, just to show us what you want exactly." Naru said. He looked at her then sighed.

"Alright, my name is Hatake Kakashi. Things I like and things I hate… I don't feel like telling you that." He said. "My dreams for the future, never really thought about it. And as for my hobbies, well. I have some hobbies." He said with a half shrug.

"Well that was pointless, all we got was his name." Sakura muttered to herself.

"Alright, you're first pinky." Kakashi said earning a glare from Sakura.

Naru's face briefly flashed with confusion before it went back to normal as she thought _'Pinky… OH. Sakura right.'_ This wasn't missed by Kakashi who merely put it into the back of his mind figuring that she just wasn't paying attention.

"I'm Haruno Sakura, what I like is uh… I mean the person I like is…" she glanced at Sasuke and bit her lip with a light blush. "My hobby is uh…" she erupted in giggles, which caused Naru to blink in confusion. "My dreams for the future are…" she stopped and squealed into her hands, causing Sasuke to shift a little further away from her.

Kakashi hung his head in defeat. A fangirl. Why did He have to get stuck with a fangirl, on HIS team. Girls like her are more into boys than actually training to be a ninja.  
"Next." Kakashi said looking over at the only boy on his team.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything." He said causing Sakura to deflate a little. "My dream, no it's not a dream. My goal is to revive my clan and kill a certain man." He said glaring out. Sakura blushed staring at him in awe, Naru blinked in shock.

 _'He's so cool.'_ Sakura swooned.

 _'Whoa.'_ Naru thought.

 _'Just as I thought. Hung up on revenge.'_ Kakashi thought. He sighed and shifted his attention to Naru.

"And finally you." He said pointedly at Naru. Mamoru nipped her gently to she knew that he was talking to her.

"Um, my name is Uzumaki Naru. I like learning new jutsu's, being outside, and spending time with my true friends and Mamoru." She said smiling a little. "I don't like being babied, getting in trouble, or cruel and ignorant people. My hobbies are training and relaxing." She said.

"And my dream, I guess is to one day be a top ninja and be accepted." She said shrugging while petting Mamoru's head again.

 _'Hmm. Well at least one of my Genin has a realistic dream.'_ Kakashi mused to himself.

"Alright, you're all different in your own way. Tomorrow we will meet and have our first mission." He said.

"Oh! What is it?" Sakura asked.

"A survival test." He said causing Sakura to whine and Sasuke to scoff.

"We did those in the academy all the time!" Sakura whined.

"This one is different. This one will determine whether you pass and become permanent genin." He said with a smirk forming under his mask.

"WHAT?!" Sakura screeched, causing Naru to flinch and instinctively grab her ears and Mamoru to snarl at Sakura.

"Yes. You see, out of the 27 graduating students, only 9 of you will become genin permanently." He said. "And that is what this test will determine."

"So this exam we just had was useless." Sasuke said.

"No, it taught you what you needed and it helped sort out all the hopeless cases. The better way to say this is, I am the only one who determines if you pass or fail tomorrow." He said with a chuckle. "So tomorrow morning I want all three of you to meet me at the 3rd training ground at 5am." He said while standing up from the railing he was leaning on. "Bring your ninja gear with you as well. Oh, and don't eat breakfast." He said with a small smile.

"Why?"

"It's simply really, it's because you will puke." He said with a smile earning him three sets of eyes blinking in shock. He waved his hand.

"You are all dismissed." He said. Sasuke got up quickly and left with Sakura hot on his heels trying to ask him out on a date. Naru stood up and wobbled a little causing Mamoru to bite her clothing to stabilize her. He slowly leaned down so Naru could climb onto his back.

Kakashi watched this interaction with curiosity as Mamoru made his way towards the railing he had just been leaning against.

"Hold on." He purred to Naru, who gripped his collar tightly as he jumped off of the roof and took of quickly towards her apartment.

Kakashi watched his final student depart as he pondered some thoughts to himself.


	3. Pass or fail

_**Chapter 3: Pass or fail?**_

Naru and Mamoru walked into the training grounds a little after 5am, she yawned and slid down when he stopped, he nudged her towards the poles there. She sat down slowly and he curled up around her, keeping her warm in the cool air and both fell asleep.

Sasuke and Sakura arrived and watched them curiously as they slept. Naru woke up about an hour later with a yawn, rousing Mamoru from his light sleep when he heard her yawn. He purred a little and she rubbed his side and back gently and he continued to purr.

All three genin waited for hours, the sun climbing slowly higher and higher in the sky and still time ticked slowly by until finally at 10:00am Kakashi came strolling up lazily with a smile.

"Morning." he said.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura snarled.

"Sorry, sorry, you…see a black cat crossed in front of my path, so I had to take the long way around the village." he said with a grin while rubbing the back of his head, they growled at him, he cleared his throat. "Anyways..." he pulled out an alarm clock and put it on the pole that Naru was leaning against. She stood up and Mamoru walked with her to the others. "The test is simple, you have until noon to retrieve these bells from me." he said and held two silver bells up that jingled. "You may use any tactic to get them away from me, all weapons are allowed. However if you don't come at me like you want to kill me, you'll never stand a chance." he said causing them all to blink in shock. "If you don't get a bell by time the alarm goes off, you will be tied to these posts and watch while I eat my lunch in front of you." he said, their stomachs growled at the mention of food. "And that person will fail automatically and will be sent back to the academy." he said, they blinked in shock.

"But wait! There are only two!" Sakura said.

"Exactly, that way, one of you will definitely fail." he said with his trademark eye smile. "We'll begin when I say start." he said, Naru climbed on Mamoru's back, they got ready. "Start!" he said, they jumped away and Mamoru jumped through the woods quickly.

"What are we going to do?" Naru asked as they jumped through the woods.

"We'll wait and get a feel on his seriousness with this test. Then we'll decide from there." he rumbled, she nodded, he climbed a large tree and made sure they were hidden well in the leaves so he could see all around them while Naru listened.

Kakashi strolled through the forest collecting their locations, he sensed Sakura's chakra moving quickly and right towards him. 'Probably looking for Sasuke' he sighed mentally. He pulled out a small orange book and began to read. He heard her gasp followed by her sudden noisy stop, causing him to sigh as he quickly replaced himself with a clone and crept up behind her and smirked.

"Sakura." he whispered, she gasped and whirled around, she screamed and he made a few signs and threw the girl into a genjutsu.

He jumped up into the tree watching Sakura stand there dazed, suddenly she screamed bloody murder and fainted. "Too harsh? Oh well, she's got to learn these things." he muttered and turned the page.

Mamoru sighed and shook his head as he saw what happened.

"What in the world just happened? I heard Sensei say her name and then her scream! Did he kill her!?" Naru asked in a panic.

"No, Sakura was caught in a genjutsu and fainted." he said. "The Uchiha is confronting him now, we will attack after this." he said, she nodded and Mamoru watched the interesting fight, seeing the Uchiha was able to touch the bell.

Kakashi pulled him into the ground and walked away returning to his book, Mamoru grabbed Naru and jumped down, they stopped. "Any ideas?" Naru asked, he nodded.

"One." he said, she nodded and listened as he whispered the plan to her.

Kakashi stood leaning against a tree relaxing, if he calculated correctly he had at least 12 minutes until the alarm would ring and so far only two students had attacked him, as he thought about Naru and how strange she was, he heard a shuffle and watched Naru walk from the bushes, she stiffened and paused, he smirked and straightened. He heard another shuffle and Naru walked out from behind the tree, he cocked his eyebrow and stood relaxed.

"I was wondering when you would attack kid." he said, she blinked then closed her eyes and focused, he watched her build up some chakra, he glanced back and saw the other doing the same.

He blinked as the one in front of him shot towards him, she swung and he blocked and pushed her back, the other attacked and he dodged again, he watched the other hit the ground and the other skid and crouched, the other got up slowly and got up and let out a breath of air, she closed her eyes and ran towards him again, she pulled out kunai and shuriken and threw them, he pulled his own out and blocked them and threw a few towards her, suddenly a lightning bolt cracked and she disappeared, Kakashi blinked in shock and shook his head, he looked around. Was that the thunder god? He thought and looked around carefully, little pellets hit the ground and he flinched as smoke shot up, he saw movement and kicked Naru backwards and dodged the other then used the smoke and disappeared.

Naru stood there panting and focused her chakra, she blinked and launched in the air just as Kakashi shot up from the ground, he looked at her confused. 'Her eyes are closed.' He thought.

The other Naru launched at him, he blinked and dodged the blow and landed a harsh kick to her chest, she shot back and rolled a little, he heard a roar and bent backwards as Mamoru launched out at him, he skidded to a stop, he panted and looked at both as they stood there, he blinked and watched as Mamoru got ready to pounce again.

Suddenly a shrill ringing sounded, he smirked and relaxed, Naru cursed and Mamoru sighed and let Naru crawl on his back and he walked away with Naru who was looking down.

 _I need to talk to Sarutobi..._ he thought.

He walked to the posts and found all three sitting down waiting for him, they all looked depressed. Kakashi smirked. "Well, I have some news, none of you are going back to the academy." he said, they perked up and smiled. "Because you are being dropped from the being ninja entirely." he said, they gasped, Sasuke launched at him, he rolled his eyes and dodged the boy and threw him to the ground and sat on him, earning a grow. "Really? You expect me to pass you three? You don't even understand the meaning of the test." he said.

"What do you mean?" Naru asked.

"It's so obvious!" he said. "Teamwork!" He barked. "If you had worked together as a team, you might have gotten the bell." he said, they blinked then looked down. "Sakura, you did nothing! You were so focused on Sasuke, you fell for an easy trap." he said, she slumped and looked down. "Sasuke, you thought the others were a waste of time so you ignored them, I hate that." he said and pressed the boy's head to the ground hard, he growled. "Naru, you showed a little teamwork, but not with your teammates." he said, she blinked a few times. "You want to be called ninja's but you can't even get that?!" he said and got up. "Look at this stone. This stone contains the names of all the great heroes of our village..." He said somberly.

"Heroes?" Naru said.

"They were all KIA." he said. "The names of some of my best friends are on here." he said, they blinked. "When you don't have teamwork, you might as well just kill yourself and the others." he said, they slunk. "I will give you one more chance." he said and pulled out two bento's and walked up to them. He gave Sasuke one and then the other to Naru. "Eat up, you'll have one more chance, Sakura, you don't get any." he said, she whined a little, Naru blinked. "I make the rules. Get it." he said and disappeared, they began to eat, Sakura sat there then whimpered as her stomach growled, Naru blinked and gave one piece to Mamoru. She brought another piece to her mouth, but paused focusing a little.

"Sakura, here." she said, the girl blinked.

"Baka! You heard him!" Sakura exclaimed.  
"But if you are hungry, you won't be able to fight at your best." she said. "I'm not that hungry." she said and smiled, she took the offered food.

"Thanks." she said, Sasuke held some out, she blushed. "Sasuke-kun." she swooned.  
"Just shut up and eat." he said.

Kakashi appeared in front of them, they gasped in horror.

"YOU!" he growled, Mamoru snarled and stood in front of Naru. "You broke the rules!" he said, they gulped. "You must be punished!" he said.

"But…" Naru said.

"What?" he said.

"You said this test was about teamwork, and that even means giving food to a teammate." Naru said.

"We're a team, we'll stick together." Sasuke said.

"Right!" Sakura said. "We're one!" she said, Kakashi glared at them then smirked.

"You pass." he said, they blinked confused.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"You... pass." he said. "See every other ninja before you did exactly what I said and that is wrong." he said. "The meaning of this test, the lesson behind it, is one of the most important things I was ever taught." he said and pulled out the bells and held them. "In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades, are worse than scum." he said, they blinked. "Team 7 passes!" he said, they cheered and laughed, he smirked. "You are all dismissed. Tomorrow Team 7 starts missions." he said.

Naru got on Mamoru and rubbed his ear, earning a rather loud purr from the snow leopard. Kakashi smirked and watched them set off towards their apartment. Kakashi waited until they were out of sight then headed to the Hokage's office.

He walked in and bowed to the Hokage, he nodded. "So?" Hiruzen said putting his pipe down.

"Team 7 consisting of Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naru has passed." he said, Sarutobi smirked. 'I knew it would work.' He thought.

"That is good to hear." he said. "You can come in tomorrow for missions." he said, Kakashi nodded then shifted. "What is it Kakashi?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing sir, just tired." he said then bowed and walked out, Sarutobi sighed and looked out the window.

 _Now let's see what will happen now …_ he thought.

That night he walked into Naru's apartment, she let him in, he smiled. "So, you passed?"  
"Yes." she said with a smile.  
"I'm proud of you." he said, she gave him a large grin.

"Thank you." she said.

"How did you do?" He asked.  
"Alright." she said and smiled. "It was hard to act nice and help them..." she said with an eye roll, he chuckled.

There was a knock on the door, Naru got up and answered it.

"I heard you passed!" Iruka said, she chuckled, he picked her up and spun her, she laughed as he set her down, and he walked in and paused. "Hokage-sama! I'm sorry I'll come ba-"  
"No, you're fine Iruka, I was just checking on Naru. I will talk with you later." he said and walked out.

"Oh! I'm so proud of you Naru!" he said, she smiled at him and nodded, he chuckled and opened a bag.

"What did you bring?" she asked.

"A small cake to celebrate." he said and opened it, Naru smiled at him and nodded, she took it slowly and set it on the table.

"Want some?" she asked.

"Sure." he said, she smiled and got a knife and cut the cake up, he smiled as he watched her wash the knife right away and put it back exactly as it was. "You are a very meticulous person aren't you Naru-chan." he said.

"Well, yeah, I guess just a quirk." she shrugged. "Sorry." she chuckled.

"Oh! No!" he said and laughed. "I just noticed how neat this place is."  
"I just have to have it like that." she smiled. 'And because of I don't keep it neat I end up tripping over something like when I was first adjusting.' She thought dejectedly while she slid the plate to him and they ate the cake.

"So, are you excited about getting a mission now?" he asked.

"Yeah." she nodded. "I'm excited!" she said, he chuckled.

"I knew you'd pass." he said, she smiled at him.

Alright Blind Naru and Team 7 start their missions next!

I do want Naru to be slightly cold but yet open with them, she'll help them out, but it doesn't mean she'll be open with them... telling them the truth!

Don't forget to Favorite/Follow this story and leave a review/comment!

My beta Vandar93 and I are on a roll with this story! Planning it all out and we hope we can make this a kick ass story for you all to enjoy! Until next time! ;3


	4. Dreadful D ranks

_**Chapter 4: Dreadful D-Ranks**_

Sasuke leaned against a tree peering around the side, a little ways away Sakura was crouched down behind a bush, Naru was behind a tree.

"Do you have the target in sight?" Kakashi's voice came over the radios in their ears.

"Yes." Sasuke whispered back.

"Okay on my count -"  
"Wait target is moving!"

A black blur shot through the bushes and stopped. Naru was closest, she gulped and went to her knees and moved out a little, a hiss sounded.

The 'target' was a small tabby cat named Tora, she had brown fur and lighter brown markings, and amber eyes, and had a red ribbon on her ear.

"It's okay Tora, come here." Naru whispered and waved her finger in the direction she was guessing where the cat was at, she hissed again. Naru made a kissing noise and reached out, she hissed as Tora's nails hit her hand. "OW!" she yelped and held the bleeding cut on her hand. Tora took advantage of the situation and turned to run but froze as Mamoru stood in front of her. He roared at her, she yowled, her back and fur going straight up and she jumped in the air in fright, Tora ran to Naru and jumped into her arms shaking in fear, Naru laughed and stood up slowly. Mamoru nudged her and she got up on his back and he set back to the team.

Sasuke and Sakura jumped down just as they arrived to Kakashi's location.

"Mission accomplished!" Sakura said with a smile, even though inside she was ready to throttle the cat they had been chasing for hours!

"Is the cat okay?" Sasuke asked looking at the shaking cat in Naru's arms, Kakashi looked at the cat.

Mamoru let out a rumble and Naru giggled a little.

"Meh." Kakashi gave a small shrug. "Let's go." he said, they set out back to the Hokage tower and Naru stayed on Mamoru as Madam Shijimi who was the wife of the fire Daimyo came up to her and picked up Tora and hugged her tight, and for the first time ever since the stupid cat ran away, didn't fight the tight hold of her mommy, she actually snuggled into her arms.

"I think we finally took care of the cat…" Kakashi muttered.

"Congratulations on a successful mission Team 7!" Sarutobi said with a smile. "It took you a little longer than normal, did Tora get better at hiding?" he said with a chuckle and puffed at his pipe.

"We would have been done with this mission SO much sooner, BUT Naru let Tora run right past her a bunch of times! What wrong with you!? Are you that blind you can't see a cat with a bright red ribbon?!" Sakura sneered. Naru slunk a little and blinked a few times, eyes starting to get watery. Mamoru growled a little which made Sakura step back a little, Sarutobi gulped as he saw how upset Naru was.

"I'm sorry." Naru mumbled, Sarutobi cleared his throat, they turned their attention back to him. He sighed.

"Alright, I will give you another mission. Your mission is to pull some weeds for an old woman who needs help around her property due to her increasing age. It will be tomorrow." he said, they nodded, Kakashi took the paper and they left with a bow, Naru held on to Mamoru as he jumped to her apartment.

"Are you okay?" he rumbled.

"... Yeah…" she said. She unlocked her door and he let her get down and watched as she walked to her room and sat on the bed. He sighed and curled up with her, he looked and saw tears running down her cheeks.

"Naru-sama, don't be upset by what the loud one said. She's just being ignorant." he said, she chuckled a little with a small smile but it fell and she sighed. _'It's not fair...'_ She thought.

~o0o~

The next day Naru and Mamoru jumped down a little ways from Sasuke and Sakura, Kakashi appeared 15 minutes later and sent them off to their work of pulling weeds from the woman's garden, while Kakashi sat lounging on the fence reading his Icha-Icha book.

Naru was on her knees feeling along the ground of her section carefully, Mamoru helped by telling her quietly where to go and not go.

Kakashi peered over his book and looked at Naru, he tilted his head as he watched her feel the grass before she would pull it and watched Mamoru instruct her. 'Strange...' He thought.

He looked over at Sakura and Sasuke but they were just looking bored and pulling the weeds easily, he looked back and watched Naru struggling a little with her section being the one farthest behind.

Soon they were close to being finished with the garden. Naru was moving faster and had Mamoru helping her less than before, feeling the grass with her hands and got moving faster, Kakashi was relaxing again but jumped when he heard the woman let out a yell.

"You idiot! You pulled all of the herbs out!" she screamed at Naru.

"I'm sorry!" she said and felt the grass and winced as she felt the difference.

"I should have known a Demon couldn't help, only destroy!" she said putting her hands on her hips.

"I said I was sorry." Naru said.

"You idiotic monster fox!" she snarled and shoved her, Naru cried out and fell into the mud, Mamoru launched in front of her and roared, the woman screamed and fell, Kakashi launched in front of her.

"Whoa! Easy!" He said. Mamoru growled his fur standing on end. Kakashi sighed and helped the woman up, he turned and watched Mamoru nuzzle Naru gently.

"Are you okay?" Mamoru rumbled. She sniffled and rubbed her face that was covered in mud, Mamoru picked her up and got her on his back, she struggled and got up right on his back, he sent one more growl to the woman.

"Wait!" Kakashi called but Mamoru jumped away with Naru.

Later that night Naru came out of her shower drying her hair, Mamoru laid on her couch. There was a sudden rapid knocking at her door, they perked up, Naru walked up and paused.

"Yes?" she said.

"Naru, it's me, Saru." his old voice sounded, she sighed and opened the door and blinked towards his location, he let out a breath of air, and cupped her face, she gave a small smile to him.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied sadly.

"What happened?" he asked as he ushered her to her table and sat down with her. "I mean, Kakashi said there was an issue on the mission and you left early, he said you got pushed?" he said.

"I made a mistake with the weed pulling and the woman yelled at me, she called me a Demon and…" she said looking down, tears starting to fill her eyes. " … And I apologized but she yelled again and shoved me back into the dirt." She said as tears starting flowing from her eyes. "Right when she did this Mamoru leaped at her only to have Kakashi step in between." She said while crying. "KAKASHI WAITED UNTIL I WAS PUSHED TO STOP HER! HE'S A JOUNIN! HE COULD HAVE PREVENTED HER FROM SHOVING ME TO THE GROUND, BUT NO HE ONLY CARED ONCE THE "DEMONS" PET LUNGED AT THE OLD BITCH!" Naru shouted angrily with tears still flowing down her face.

"Stupid human." Mamoru muttered from his spot on the couch.

"Naru, I'm sorry." He said reaching over to hug the crying girl. "Maybe we should avoid these kind D-ranks missions. We can stick to other kinds like-"  
"It won't matter!" Naru said sharply, jerking away from him. "It won't what kind of D-rank I go on!" she said angrily. "D-ranks are supposed to be simple! They are just menial tasks around the home that people pay others to do because they can. Anyone can do them except someone like me who can't see!" she said and sighed shakily and tears still falling from her cheeks. She brought her knees up to her face and wrapped her arms around them crying loudly. "It's not fair!" she yelled. Sarutobi moved forward and pulled her into a tight embrace hugging her and holding her tightly. She bawled into his shoulder, he rubbed her back and hushed her gently Mamoru got up and set his head on her lap gently and both comforted the girl as she broke down.

~o0o~

Two days later Naru, Mamoru, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura stood in the mission office for the first time since the last mission.

"Alright team 7, considering the last mission and it seems you all are improving a little, I have decided to give you a challenge." he said, they perked up. "I have a C-rank mission for you all." he said with a smirk, Kakashi blinked confused that he was giving a practically brand new genin team, that hadn't really gotten along yet, a C-rank mission.

Naru had a tiny smile on her face, she knew everyone else was confused but she wasn't, Sarutobi decided he would give the team a chance on a C-rank, mainly because it was getting difficult for Naru to keep the mask on her face while on D-rank missions, so maybe a C-rank would help her.

"This is just a simple escort mission. A bridge builder needs to be brought to his home and to have some protection from robbers and highway men while he finishes working on his bridge. He lives in the Land of Waves, just off the coast of the Land of Fire." he said. "Send in the client!" he called. They turned and looked as an older man came in, stumbling a little. He had gray hair that was messy, it almost looked like he just rolled out of bed, he wore brown, tattered clothing showing he wasn't the richest man alive, he had a pair of small glasses on his face, and his face had a pink tint to it, which showed he had been drinking, the other sign obvious sign was the large sake bottle which was almost empty in his hand.

Naru cringed as the smell of sake hit her nose, causing her to she gag a little. They all blinked at the man who they were supposed to be protecting.

He grunted and smacked his lips and blinked. "What is thish!?" he said wobbling. "I requested ninjah! Not a bunch of brats!" he said with a heavy slur and took another swig of his drink and wiped his mouth with his arm. "They don't look like they could protect a fly!" he said.

"I promise you Tazuna-san, they are more than qualified." Sarutobi said with a smile. He stumbled forward, closer to Naru. Naru couldn't hold the gag noise in this time, earning her glares from her team as she continued to gag.

"What's your problem dobe?" Sasuke said.

"Did you take a bath in sake or something? Or are you just a walking bottle of it?" she said cringing and covering her nose. He growled. Sarutobi chuckled a little with a cough, Iruka shook his head with a smile.

"So you're telling me I get three brats and a kitten?!" He said. Mamoru roared at him, causing him to jump and his bottle to fall, shattering on the ground. He let out an exasperated moan, earning a giggle from Naru.

"You don't call Mamoru a kitten." she said.

"Brat!" he said, she frowned at him and Mamoru rumbled.

"Ahem." Sarutobi said, they all looked at him waiting. "I want you all to set out tomorrow morning at 9. That will give you enough time to make it to the Land of Waves during the daytime." He said. They nodded, he signed a paper and stamped it, holding it out for Kakashi to take and bowed. "Dismissed and good luck." He said. They walked outside, which was followed by Naru taking in a deep breath of air as Kakashi watched her.

"Naru?" he asked, she perked up but looked at her hands.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I... uh...- never mind." he said, she turned towards him tilting her head to the side slight while crinkling an eye. She smiled and set off with Mamoru.

They arrived at her apartment and Mamoru crouched letting her slide off. She walked in after pulling her shoes off, she began to make some lunch for herself and Mamoru.

"You need to get packed up for the mission." he rumbled.

"Yeah, I'll do it after this." she said with a smile and put his dish down. She sat down and ate herself quickly. She finished and sat there quietly, letting out a soft sigh.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm just…worried, I guess." she said. "What if…what if I mess up again?" she asked.

"I can't say you won't mess up again, it's natural, but you have to know how to move on." he said, she sighed. "Everyone makes mistakes." he said. "But they make you stronger, so long as you don't let them hold you back and you learn from them." he said, she smiled.

"You always know just what to say don't you?"

"Yup." He said, she snorted. He stepped up and put his paw on her chair and licked her cheek, she smiled. "You'll be fine." he said. "Get ready." he said, she smiled and got up and walked back to her room and began to pack her weapons and supplies into her pack and set it against the wall out of the way, Naru sighed and sat down on her bed and yawned.

Mamoru jumped on the bed with her and curled up, she smiled and changed her clothes and crawled into bed herself and finally went to sleep, wondering what exactly would happen tomorrow…

Land of Waves arc starts next!

We've been planning like crazy! We have worked out some kinks, but we're getting it done! Enjoy!

Don't forget to drop a review on the story before you go! ;3


	5. Land Of Waves Part I

_**Chapter 5. Land of Waves Part 1**_

Naru sighed as the team and Tazuna waited at the gates, once again waiting on their chronically late Sensei. They finally saw Kakashi lazily approaching the gate, and this time not 3 hours late!

"Let's head out." he said with a smile, they nodded and set out towards the Land of Waves, mostly walking in pure silence.

"Say Tazuna-san..." Sakura said looking at him.  
"What is it brat?" he said with a slight sneer.

"Your country is the Land of Waves, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, what of it?" he said, she looked to Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei, there are ninja in that country too aren't there?" she asked.

"No, there are no ninja in the Land of Waves. But in other countries there are hidden villages each with their own different customs and cultures where ninja reside." he said.

"So, why are there ninja in other countries?" Sakura asked.

"To the people of each country, the existence of ninja means strength, military strength. In other words that's how they protect themselves and maintain the balance of their lands. But ninja villages are not under the control of the government … but when it comes to small islands, like the Land of Waves, it has natural protection from the sea, so they don't have a need for a ninja village." he said.

"Which ones have ninja villages?" Sakura asked blinking.

"The lands that do consist of ninja villages are the Lands of Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind and Earth. All of them each have vast areas of land, together they are known as the Five Great Shinobi Nations." he said. "The Land of Fire has the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The land of Water has the Village Hidden in the Mist. The land of Lightning has the Village Hidden in the Clouds. The land of Wind has the Village Hidden in the Sand and the Land of Earth has the Village Hidden in the Stones." he said. "The leaders of these villages are allowed the title of Kage, which there are only five of in the Ninja World. The Five Kages are the Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage and Tsuchikage."

"So, Hokage-sama is really great!" Sakura said. _'Is that old man really that great? Pshh Yeah right.'_ Sakura thought.

 _'He is...'_ Naru thought with a smile.

"Hey!" Kakashi barked, Sakura stiffened. "You just doubted Hokage-sama didn't you?" he said with a strict tone, Sakura shook her head quickly, Mamoru snorted, Sakura slunk a little and Kakashi chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Well, anyways there are no ninja battles in a C-rank mission anyway, so you can relax. The most we would have to worry about is Bandits or Highwaymen." he said with a smile, she sighed.

"So we won't be running into any foreign ninja or anything like that?" Sakura asked in a sweet voice.

"Heh, not likely." Kakashi said with a chuckle.

Sasuke glanced back and saw Tazuna gulp a little, Mamoru cocked his brow as he felt the nervousness pouring off of Tazuna. _'What's he hiding?'_ He thought.

They continued to walk for over an hour along the path in the woods, they passed a single water puddle on the ground. Kakashi blinked a few times and sighed quietly. They all walked pass it.

Two ninja's in dark garbs rose up silently from the water puddle and pulled their arms up, chains connected and they wrapped around Kakashi, he gasped in horror, everyone turned around.

"Do it!" Gouzu said.  
"Now!" Meizu said with a nod.

Kakashi cried out as they pulled the chains tighter and they cut through his body and it fell to the ground, Sakura screamed in horror, Mamoru growled, Naru gulped.

"Now it's your turn!" Meizu said. They gasped as they ran out, Mamoru growled, he focused in on one as he ran around, Naru cried out as one tackled her right off of Mamoru.

"Naru!" he growled.

Naru rolled on the ground and groaned in pain, she sat up slowly and panted hard, she focused some chakra and heard and felt the rumbling in the ground moving quickly towards her.

"Duck!" Mamoru snarled, Naru dropped down and gasped as she felt one fly over her.

Sasuke ran out and kicked the one in his neck, he coughed and skidded backwards, Naru got up slowly and panted, she heard steps and got ready, she was tackled by Mamoru, he turned and brought his large paw up smacking the Gouzu a few feet from him, he groaned in pain, Mamoru growled Naru got up slowly and panted, she felt some slight movement, she spun around and sliced her weapon and heard the tear of clothes, Mamoru turned and smirked as he saw Naru stabbing Meizu in the stomach, he growled and brought his claw up.

"Naru!" Mamoru barked, Naru jumped backwards avoiding Meizu's claw, he growled and went after her again.

Sakura screamed as Gouzu ran towards her and Tazuna, Sasuke skidded in front of her. Gouzu reached his claws out but instead of hitting them, he was met with a strong arm that belonged to Kakashi, he slumped and shook in pain.

"Kaka-sensei!" Sakura said with a smile, Sasuke snorted that he hadn't got his chance to show off.

Kakashi looked at his prisoner and snorted, he heard a yelp of pain and a loud thud followed by a short scream and Mamoru's roar.

He looked up to see Mamoru pulling away from the other demon brother, blood splattered on the ground leaking from the now dead man. Mamoru trotted up to Naru who had gotten kicked back by him, he nuzzled her gently she chuckled.

"I'm fine." she whispered. She pulled out her canteen and poured some of it on Mamoru's lips wiping the strong blood from him.

"Thanks." he rumbled, even for his large size and fierce power he wasn't a fighter unless he had to.

Kakashi dropped the one brother to the ground after he tied him up, he looked at Naru then sighed and turned his attention to his client.

"Alright, well that was interesting, Tazuna-san, I believe we need to talk." Kakashi said, the old man blinked quickly.

"Bout what?" he asked nervously.

"Sensei, how did you-?" Sakura asked.

"Substitution." Sasuke said and looked where Kakashi had been 'killed' at to see a log sliced up in chunks that was supposed to be Kakashi's body. He nodded.

"How did you know?" Gouzu rasped from the ground.

"A puddle? In the middle of the day, on this road, when it hasn't rained for weeks?" he said. "It was obvious." he said.

"If you knew, why did you leave the kids to handle it?" Tazuna sneered.

"I could have taken them out right then, but I would have gained no information. I needed to know if they were after us, ninja attacking ninja, or..." he said and gave him a pointed look.

"What?!" he said.

"If they were after you." he finished. "These two are rogue chunin from the Village Hidden in the Mist, known to be persistent in fights, to keep going, no matter the cost." he said. "So tell me, why are these two coming after a simple bridge builder?" he said. "When you hired us, you said we would be protecting you from highwaymen and such, not ninja's. I'm sure you have your reasons, but lying to us is not acceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this original mission." he said.

"We're genin... we can't handle a mission that's going to be tough." Sakura said, Sasuke sent a glare to her. _Maybe you can't._ He thought, Naru and Mamoru came up listening.

"I'm... I'm sorry." Tazuna said. "I will explain everything, if you all will stay." he said, Kakashi looked at his team then at Naru for a few seconds longer and sighed.

"Alright." he said.

Two hours later the team with Tazuna were sailing in a small boat across the water hidden in the thick mist.

"Wow...it's so huge." Sakura said looking up at the bridge. Naru sighed sadly and shivered at the cool air. Sasuke was looking around. "This fog is so thick you can't see anything." she whispered.

"The bridge isn't far now, our destination is just ahead." the owner of the small boat said quietly.

"Alright Tazuna-san, before we reach the pier, I want to ask you something. The men who are after you, I need to know why. If you don't tell us, I'm afraid I will have no choice but to end the mission when we drop you ashore." Kakashi said.

"I guess I have no choice but to- no I want to tell you. Like you said this is beyond the scope of the original mission, the one who seeks my life is a very short man, who casts a long and deadly shadow."

"Hmm? Who?" Kakashi asked.

"You know him, at least I know you've heard his name, one of the wealthiest men in the world, Gato."

"Gato? The Gato? Of Gato transport?" Kakashi said, they blinked confused. "He's a business leader, everyone knows him."  
"Who is he?" Naru asked.

"Gato is a very powerful tycoon from a famous company true, but underneath the surface he uses ruthless methods to take over nations, he sells drugs and contraband, using gangs and ninja." Tazuna sighed. "It was one year ago when Gato set his sights on the Land of Waves. He used his wealth to take control of the shipping, taxing anything going in or out of the island. Anyone who tried to stand in his way, were just taken care of." he said somberly. "He controls everything about us because we're a small island, but he does fear the bridge because it will open it up for us to take control again." he said and sighed. "I am the bridge builder."

"So, you're standing in this gangster's way." Sakura said.  
"So, those two from before were working for Gato?" Sasuke asked.

"If you knew how dangerous this was, and that he would send ninja, why did you hide that?" Kakashi asked.  
"The land of Waves is a small, poor nation. We could barely afford a C-rank, anything higher, it wasn't possible." he said. "If you end this mission when you drop me ashore, I will be murdered and the bridge will never be finished, they'll kill me before I can even make it home." he said. "But don't feel bad!" he said and chuckled. "Of course my sweet little grandson will be upset, he'll cry 'Granddad! I want my granddad!' and my daughter will condemn the ninja of the Leaf Village blaming you for abandoning her father and will live her life in sorrow." he said, they groaned a little at the guilt he was pouring in the whole story.

 _'Nice...'_ Naru thought.

"Well, I guess we have no choice, we'll have to keep guarding you..." Kakashi said with a smile.

"Really?! You will?! Oh thank you so much!" Tazuna beamed. _'I win!'_ He thought.

"We're almost there." The boat operator stated.

They went through a tunnel and landed on the bridge, they all got off the boat and sighed.

"Okay take me home and I mean get me there in one piece!" Tazuna ordered, Naru almost scoffed. _'Jerk.'_ She thought.

"Right." Kakashi said. _'The next ninja they send won't be chunin, but Jonin, an elite with deadly skills.'_ Kakashi thought.

They walked through the path in the woods, Sakura was trying to get Sasuke to talk to her. Naru was listening carefully, there was rustle, and she reacted quickly shooting a kunai into the brush. Everyone else jumped and gasped.

A small, but terrified, Rabbit quickly hopped out of the brush.

"NARU YOU BAKA! YOU ALMOST KILLED A RABBIT! HOW COULDN'T YOU SEE THAT!?" Sakura shouted at her.

 _'That's a snow rabbit, their fur is only white in the winter... so they're already here.'_ Kakashi thought and glancing around.

A tall figure watched from the trees with a smirk. _'The copy ninja eh? Maybe this won't be boring after all.'_

"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" Kakashi yelled spinning around, Sasuke shoved Sakura down, Kakashi pushed Tazuna down and Mamoru dropped down with Naru.

A large blade flew just where their heads had been, slamming into the tree and a man landed on it and looked at them over his shoulder.

"Zabuza Momochi the Demon of the Mist." Kakashi said. "Rogue ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist." he said and walked closer.

 _'Who is he?'_ Naru thought as she stood next to Mamoru.

"Well, if we will be fighting, I'm going to need this…" Kakashi muttered and pulled his hatai-ate up, revealing his left eye that was a sharingan.

"Sharingan." Zabuza chuckled. "It's too bad, but you'll have to hand over the old man." he said.

"Quick, manji formation, protect the bridge builder and stay out of this fight!" Kakashi said, they surrounded Tazuna all held kunai in their hands waiting.

"I get to see the sharingan in action, what an honor." Zabuza said chuckling.

"What the hell is it?" Naru asked.

"A rare power that resides in the eye. The user of this Doujutsu can instantly see and understand any genjutsu, ninjutsu and taijutsu, and they can reflect it back on the attacker. The Sharingan is a rare form of power, but there is much more to it." Sasuke said.

"You only scratched the surface boy, the sharingan can analyze an opponent's technique and then copy it down to the smallest detail." Zabuza said. "You were in our bingo books Kakashi, we were ordered to destroy you on sight. The man who copied over 1000 jutsu. Kakashi the Copy Ninja."

 _'Whoa...'_ Naru thought.

 _'The sharingan is a rare trait that only occurs in the Uchiha clan, my clan! Could he be -?!'_ Sasuke thought looking at him.

"Enough talking, time to finish this." Zabuza said, Kakashi stepped in front of his team and Tazuna. "So, I have to kill you first Kakashi? Alright." he said and jumped with his sword and landed on the water.

"He's standing on the water!" Sakura said.

"Hidden Mist jutsu!" Zabuza said, the mist around them thickened and he disappeared.

"Sensei!" Sakura called out scared.

"Relax! He'll come after me first." Kakashi said reassuringly.

"Who is he?" she asked.

"Zabuza, he is the ex-leader of the Hidden Mist Assassination group. He's a master of the silent killing technique." Kakashi informed them.

"Silent?" Naru asked.

"As it sounds, it happens instantly, without any sound or warning, you pass through this life so fast you don't even know what happened." he said. "The sharingan cannot fully stop it, so don't lower your guard." he said. "Well, if we fail, we only lose our lives." Kakashi said.

"How can you say that?!" Sakura snarled, Mamoru smirked a little and looked around carefully, Naru closed her eyes.

"Eight points." Zabuza's voice sounded, they gasped.

"What was that!?" Sakura said.

"Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian arteries, kidneys, heart." he sounded again. "Now which will be my kill point?" he said, they gasped, Naru shook a little, her heart beating faster and faster.

Kakashi's chakra flared and the mist cleared a little around them, Sasuke stared at his back shaking in fear.

 _I feel like I can't breathe, one little breath it will draw him to you, it's suffocating! If this goes on, I'll go insane! I can't do it!_ He thought and turned his kunai to his stomach. _I'd rather-_

"Sasuke!" Kakashi barked, he jumped. "Calm down! I'll protect you all with my life, I will not allow my friends to die! Trust me." he said giving a smile over his shoulder.

"I wouldn't bet on it." Zabuza said suddenly appearing right in the middle of them all. Naru spun around with her kunai and hit him. He groaned in pain, Kakashi turned and saw Naru had stabbed Zabuza in the stomach, they gasped and stepped back. Mamoru smirked as Naru kept her eyes shut, she let her kunai go and jumped back as the Zabuza there turned to water.

"Well Kakashi, it seems that at least one of your brats isn't incompetent. Maybe I will let her live and take her with me after I kill the rest of you." Zabuza said.

"Sensei!" Sakura cried, Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi and sliced, he gasped as he was cut clean in half but turned to water.

 _'The water clone jutsu, it can't be...'_ He thought and growled then blinked as Kakashi appeared behind him with a kunai at his throat.

"Now it's over." he said.

"Way to go!" Sakura cheered, Naru took in a breath and gulped, Mamoru growled.

"Really?" he chuckled, Kakashi gasped as he appeared behind him, the one in front of Kakashi turned to water.

"A clone..." Naru whispered.

Kakashi ducked as Zabuza swung his blade, it hit the ground and Zabuza flipped up and kicked Kakashi hard sending him flying through the air.

"Now!" Zabuza barked and ran after him, he skidded to a stop seeing the spikes Kakashi put down. "Spikes, trying to slow me down, foolish." he said and jumped in the air, Kakashi hit the water and came out coughing.

"Sensei!" Sakura called.

 _'He got kicked so easily, how strong is this guy?'_ Naru thought nervously.

Kakashi looked at the water and frowned. _'This water is dense… heavier than it should be...'_ he thought.

"Fool!" Zabuza barked, Kakashi gasped turning as Zabuza ran through signs quickly and Kakashi was lifted from the water in a ball of water, he struggled to get free but couldn't.

 _'Escaping in the water was a bad idea.'_ He thought.

"This prison is made of water, but its stronger than steel." Zabuza chuckled. "Hard to fight when you can't move. So much for the great Kakashi, I'll kill you later, first your little friends must be killed." he said and formed hand signs with one hand and a water clone pulled up. They gasped.

"You think wearing those headbands make you ninja? When you've hovered between life and death so many times it doesn't faze you, then you can call yourself ninja. When you've become so deadly you're in my bingo book, then you can call yourself ninja. But to call upstarts like you ninja is joke!" he barked, the mist rolled in, Naru gasped and closed her eyes. _'I can't sense him!'_ She thought in a panic. All of a sudden she cried out as she was kicked in the stomach and rolled along the ground. Her hatai-ate came free and hit the ground and Zabuza stepped on it. "You're just brats!" He barked.

"Naru!" Sakura called, Mamoru growled and ran over to Naru, she sat up slowly and wiped blood from her lip.

"Listen! Get the bridge builder and run! You can't win this fight!" Kakashi yelled. "He's using all of his power to keep me in here, so he can only fight you with the water clone, but the clone can't go far from the original! If you get away from him he can't follow! Run!" he ordered.

 _'Run away?! No! Not an option!'_ Sasuke thought. _That became impossible the moment you were caught. No matter how fast we run, or how far we go, he'll find us and kill us. If we do a Manji formation, he can get around it easily, in the end if we're going to survive- we only have one option, rescue you!'_ He thought.

"We've got to do it!" Sasuke yelled charging forward throwing shuriken and kunai. Zabuza snorted and deflected them with his sword, Zabuza smirked as he launched at him.

 _'Way too easy.'_ He thought and reached out, he grabbed Sasuke by his throat and threw him to the ground.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried out, Naru panted and gulped, she bit her lip.

 _We've got to think of something..._ she thought holding Mamoru, he looked at her. "Ready?" he said, she nodded and made a series of clones, they launched out at him.

"Naru no!" Kakashi barked.

"Naru you Baka!" Sakura snarled.

Zabuza snorted as they jumped over him and sliced at the clone, he spun around knocking them all back, Naru skidded on the ground and panted. Mamoru skidded to a stop, Naru got up slowly and pulled her hatai-ate up and put it on her head again.

"You can put this in your stupid bingo book." Naru said, Mamoru smirked. "The ninja who's going to be a great ninja is Uzumaki Naru! Count on it!" she said, he snorted.

"What can a weakling like you do?" he sneered, Naru frowned. _'If I got the distance correct, I can use that jutsu and it'll take them both out...'_ She thought.

"What are you doing?! I told you to run!" Kakashi barked. "Your mission is to protect the bridge builder, not show how brave you are! Now take off!" he snarled.

"Bridge builder?" Naru asked.

"I guess this all happened because I wanted to live so badly..." he said and looked down, he looked up. "I won't let that stop you! Do what you have to do to save your sensei! Forget about me!" he said, Naru smirked.

"Sasuke! Come here!" she said, he ran over to her. "I got an idea." she whispered and leaned in closer blocking her lips so Zabuza couldn't tell what she was saying. Sasuke's eyes widened.  
"But-"  
"It'll work!" she said, he sighed and nodded. "Mamoru." she said, he nodded and got ready to pounce. "Be careful." she said, he nodded and ran forward, Zabuza smirked as Mamoru launched at him, he got ready to slice his blade, but Mamoru disappeared in a bolt of lightning, he stumbled back in shock and looked around, he heard a roar and spun around just as Mamoru appeared and sliced through him, he dropped to a puddle of water, Zabuza growled.

"Now!" Mamoru ordered and disappeared.

"Sasuke!" Naru barked, he ran forward and took in a deep breath and ran through the hand signs. Horse, Tiger, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse and Tiger. Sasuke let out the air creating a large ball of fire straight towards Zabuza.

"What's that supposed to do!?" he snarled.

"Now!" he said and dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way, Naru ran forward.

"Gale palm!" Naru yelled and clapped her hands, a large gust of air shot out and hit the fire shooting it straight at Zabuza, Kakashi watched in shock.

"WHAT?!" Zabuza snarled as the now large ball of fire, empowered by the wind barreled towards him. When it reached him he cursed as he jerked his hand out of the way and jumped out of the way. The jutsu faded, Naru panted and shook a little, Sasuke walked up with a smirk.

"Nice going." he said, she smirked. Mamoru bumped her up on his back, she held on. Zabuza growled and got ready to run but stopped as he was met with a kunai to his throat and Kakashi stood there, he was soaked to the bone and his sharingan was shining bright, Zabuza gasped in fear seeing the eye.

"That was an excellent plan Naru, Sasuke!" he called.

"Stupid brats." Zabuza growled.

"Your technique worked on me once, but it won't work again." he said.

Zabuza jumped away from him, Kakashi followed him perfectly with his sharingan, Zabuza growled and began to make hand signs and Kakashi followed perfectly.

"Ushi, saru, u, ne, i, tori, ushi, uma, tori, ne, tora, nu, tora, mi, ushi, hitsuji, mi, i, hitsuji, ne, jin, saru, tori, tatsu, tori, ushi, uma, hitsuji, tora, mi, ne, saru, u, i, tatsu, hitsuji, ne, ushi, saru, tori, jin, ne, i, tori." they both said at the same time.

Water bubbled up and formed into two water dragons, they smashed into each other and Kakashi blocked Zabuza's blade, locking them both in a still battle, Kakashi growled as he blocked the large sword.

 _'Something isn't right!'_ Zabuza thought. _'The sharingan can comprehend and replicate the enemies jutsu... however, both jutsu occurred at the same time. Could he-?'_ He thought.

Both jumped away from each other, a masked figure stepped on a tree watching the fight carefully.

Both jounin ran around, Kakashi mimicked him perfectly, they stood across from each other, Zabuza made a sign and Kakashi followed, Zabuza held his hand up and Kakashi did as well, Zabuza gasped in shock.

"He's not just copying him, he's moving the same way at the same time." Tazuna said, they waited watching the fight.

"How's he doing that Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

 _'My movements, its... it's as if he knows what I'm-'_  
"Going to do next?" Kakashi said, Zabuza growled.

 _'Is he reading my mind as well!? He looks at me with that eye...'_

"It makes you furious doesn't it?" Kakashi said.

"All you're doing is copying me like a monkey!"

"You can't beat me with cheap tricks! I'll crush you!" both said, Zabuza growled, the vein in his forehead pulsed.

"When I'm finished with you, you'll never open that monkey mouth again!" Zabuza said and began to make some hand signs which Kakashi copied, Zabuza blinked in shock as he watched a clone of himself appear behind Kakashi.

"Water style: giant vortex jutsu!" Kakashi called.

"What?!" Zabuza said, water shot out and tossed him around. _'Impossible! I was about to create a vortex but he made it first!'_ He thought, the team cried out as they were pushed back by the tossing water.

Zabuza slammed into a tree and slumped, he cried out as kunai became embedded in his arm's and leg's, Kakashi jumped on a branch and looked at him.

"It's over." he said.

"How? C – can you see into the future?" he asked.

"Yes, this is your last battle." he said and held a kunai up. "Ever!" he said.

Suddenly two senbon launched out and struck Zabuza in the neck. He grunted and slumped to the ground. Kakashi gasped and turned to see the masked figure standing in a tree.

"You're right, this was his last battle." he said, Kakashi jumped down and checked Zabuza's pulse but it was gone.

"Dead…" he said. The team came up watching the confrontation confused. "By your mask, you must be a hunter ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist." Kakashi said.

"You're well informed." he said. "I've been tracking Zabuza for a long time and waiting for the perfect time to take down." he said.

"A hunter ninja..." Naru started to say.  
"Don't you know anything?!" Sakura snarled.

"I wasn't asking!" Naru barked back, she blushed a little and looked down. "I know! They are ninja who go after rogues to take them out to make sure their village secrets are kept secrets." she said.

"You're well informed." he said. "I am a member of the elite tracking unit of the Hidden Mist, it was my duty to kill Zabuza." he said.

'By his voice, he couldn't be any older than Naru...' Kakashi thought. 'He's no ordinary kid, but what is he?' He thought.

"What gives you the right?" Naru asked.

"Easy Naru." Kakashi said.

"No! We just fought with all of our might and he takes him down like it was nothing!" she said. "All we were doing was fumbling around." she said, Sasuke glared at the dirt completely agreeing with Naru.

"You must accept it, there are kids that are younger then both of you, even stronger than Me." he said and ruffled her hair a little. She grumbled.

"Your struggle is over for now. I must deal with the remains." he said jumping down. "There are many secrets that can't fall into the wrong hands, please excuse Me." he said and lifted Zabuza's body on to his back and disappeared, Mamoru glared.

 _'Something's not right...'_ he thought.

"He's gone?" Sasuke said then growled, Sakura looked down, and Naru sighed.

"As ninja, the things we face are never easy, so save your anger for the next fight, we still haven't completed our mission, we still have to get the bridge builder to his house." he said.

"Sorry for all the trouble I caused!" Tazuna chuckled rubbing his head. "But you can rest up at my house!" he said.

"Alright! Let's get moving!" Kakashi said and fixed his hatai-ate over his eye again, Naru and Mamoru walked next to him, he grunted and tipped forward, Naru gasped as she heard the thump.

"Sensei!" Sakura called, they ran up to the man, but he was completely unconscious.

"Sensei?" Naru asked.


	6. Land Of Waves Part II

_**Ch.6 Land of Waves Part 2**_

Kakashi groaned and opened his eyes and winced at the bright room that looked like it was spinning. _'I think I over did it...'_ He thought.

"Waking up are we? How are you feeling?" A woman with black/blue hair stood there with her hands on her hips.

"I've been better." he said sitting up with a groan. "It'll be about week before I can move normally again." he said.

"Uh huh, that's exactly why you shouldn't move." she said, he sighed and nodded.

"Yeah." he said and went to lay back down but the door opened and Sakura came in.

"Sensei's up." she said, everyone came in and sat down next to him, he sighed. "Listen sensei. Your sharingan is amazing and all, but if it weakens you this much, then maybe you shouldn't use It." she said.

"Sorry." he said.

"Well, you did take down one of the most powerful ninja assassins, so we'll be safe for a while at least." Tazuna said.  
"What about that boy though? Who was he?" Sakura asked.

"He's a hunter-nin from the Village Hidden in the Mist. Hunter-nin specialize in tracking down rogue shinobi, those who make it into these ranks the elite ninja." Kakashi said.

"What does he do?" She inquired.  
"The Anbu black ops are also known as the Inferno Squad. They destroy all traces of a rogue ninja's corpse. The Shinobi's body contains many secrets such as ninjutsu, chakra, medicines used on his body. These are the secrets of his village, if his enemies find them, his village will be in grave danger. For example if I were to die at my enemies hands, they would try to analyze my sharingan, in the worst case, my entire technique could be stolen and used against our village. It is the sacred duty of the Hunter-nins to prevent this, keeping the village secrets safe. If a ninja betrays his village, the hunter ninja hunt them down and eliminate him and obliterate his very existence, that's there specialty." he said and frowned a little. _'But why do I have this feeling?'_ He thought and held his head.

"Sensei?" Sakura asked, he shook his head and blinked a few times. "What's wrong?"  
"I'm not so sure we're out of the woods yet." he said.

"What do you mean?" Naru asked.

"This, Zabuza is still alive." Kakashi said flatly.

"WHAT?!" Tazuna and Sakura screeched, Naru sat in shock, Sasuke frowned.  
"How do you know?" Naru asked.

"You checked his pulse!" Sakura said.

"Think back to what that hunter ninja did with Zabuza's body?"  
"I don't know..." Sakura said.

"He picked it up, even though Zabuza was so much bigger than the boy, he made sure to take his body with him. And what did he use to take him down?" Kakashi asked.

"Senbon..." Sasuke said and sighed.

"Senbon is used in medical jutsu's, and if taught right, it can be used to paralyze, that also mean it can paralyze the heart making it look like he was in a death like state, when he actually wasn't." Kakashi said, Mamoru snorted.

"So... what do we do now?" Naru asked.

"We train." Kakashi told them.

"How?! You can barely move!" Sakura protested.

"I can still train you." Kakashi said.

"A little last minute training won't make us strong enough to battle Zabuza!" she snarled.

"But it will help improve you." he said. "Your teamwork has improved, Naru and Sasuke, that was amazing teamwork." he said, Sasuke smirked and Naru gave a small smile looking down slightly. "The more you train, the better it will be." he said, they nodded.

"No it won't!" a small voice said, they turned and looked at a small boy standing there. He wore a pale shirt with green overalls and he had big white hat with blue stripes on his messy black hair.

"Inari! Where have you been?" Tazuna said. Naru stared in the direction of the voices and then slowly looked down.

"Grandpa!" he yelled and hugged Tazuna tight.

"Inari that was very rude! These ninja brought your grandfather home safely." Tsunami snapped at him putting her hands on her hip and gave her 'mom' stare.

"It's okay! It's okay! I'm rude to them too!" Tazuna said, they frowned.

"Well it's true mom! These ninja are just going to die!" he said.

"We're stronger then you know kid." Naru said breaking the shinobi's silence.

"Yeah right! You'll be killed instantly!" he said. "You're all fools!" he said, Sasuke scowled at him. "If you want to live then you need to just leave now!" he said.

"You're the fool." Naru said.

"You couldn't do anything! Gato will destroy everything!" he said. "It's pointless, you're ignorant!" Inari shouted.

"You don't know what I can or can't do." She said and stood up, Mamoru got up. "The only ignorant one here is you." she said and walked out with Mamoru. Kakashi frowned as he watched her walk out holding Mamoru's collar, Inari glared at her as she left, he huffed and stomped out ignoring his mother's call of his name.

Naru sat on the pier with her head down and her eyes closed. Mamoru looked at the water and licked his lips as he stared at the fish swimming. "Go ahead." She said. He looked over at her with a yearning look in his eyes. "I know you want to get some fish." she said smiling. He snorted and jumped down on the water using chakra and walked along chasing some fish. Naru chuckled and sat there, she sighed and paused as she heard some sniffling. She got up slowly and felt along the wall following the noise, she paused as she felt a window where it was coming from.

"Daddy… no… please, don't go daddy. Why?" she heard Inari's voice, she looked down and backed up slowly and headed back to where she had been.

-*o*-

 _Flashback_

 _9 year old Naru looked up and whimpered quietly as she looked around the dark room she was in. She sat up slowly and looked up at the group of people that had just grabbed the girl on her way back home from having her Ichiraku's supper._

 _"What... what do you want?" she said crying._

 _"Demon!" One spat, she looked down and started to get up, she cried out as a foot connected with her stomach, she rolled on the ground and held her stomach shaking._

 _"P...please stop! You're hurting me!" she cried out._

 _They surrounded the child and began to kick and tear at the girl as she cried out in fear and pain, calling for help even though it was pretty much pointless._

 _They pulled back finally and laughed as the girl struggled a little, her body screaming in pain from her broken bones._

 _She got up slowly and panted, blood running from her lip and nose. She heard them start moving away from her, causing her to look up in hope that they were done abusing her. When she finally looked up she realized that it wasn't over yet. The tallest and most built figure was standing over her. She whimpered in fear, he brought his hand up, it glowed with chakra and swiped his hand at her face and she screamed out._

 _End Flashback_

Naru sat up with a gasp and let out shaky breaths as tears were streaming down her face. Mamoru sat up and nuzzled her gently. "Naru?" he whispered.

It was in the middle of the night. Naru was in her sleeping bag lying by the wall with Mamoru and Kakashi was on her left side with Sasuke and Sakura on the other side of him.

"Naru?" Mamoru whispered again. She shook and gripped her eyes and cried quietly. Mamoru's ears lowered, he purred and nuzzled her more. She wrapped her arm around him and hugged him and he comforted her.

Kakashi's eyes opened and he glanced over at Naru and watched Naru cry quietly into Mamoru's fur, Kakashi frowned a little. _'What is going on?'_ He thought.

-*o*-

The next morning the team woke up and went downstairs to eat breakfast, but Naru didn't join them. She sat in the room still, her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them with her face was buried in them, with Mamoru right beside her.

"Naru?" Mamoru asked. She turned her head towards his voice. He saw the dark bags under her eyes showing she didn't sleep much after she had her nightmare. "What happened?" he asked.

"I had a…a dream about… that night…" she mumbled and shook her head. She got up and fixed her clothes and hair, brushing it slowly once it was up the way she liked it.

The door opened and Kakashi came in, he watched her continue to brush her hair, while Mamoru sat there watching her.

"Naru?" He asked. She blinked a few times but never looked at him.

"Yes?" She replied.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Fine." she said.

"Are you sure? You must have had a pretty bad nightmare last night." He said causing her to visibly stiffen and gulp. "What was it about?"

"Nothing." she mumbled and Mamoru took her brush and put it with her things. He walked back over and Naru climbed on his back. Kakashi grabbed her arm before she walked out, she jolted a little and Mamoru growled at him causing him to let her go.

"Naru, what's going on? You're hiding something." he said.

"No I'm not." she said with a shrug and they walked out. He frowned as she walked out.

 _'_ _Something is definitely going on. If she won't tell me I can't do anything until it becomes an issue that affects the team. Maybe Sandiame-sama can clear things up when we get back.'_ He thought before sighing and leaving the room.

-*o*-

The team was gathered in in the woods outside the house a little ways, Kakashi had a crutch under his arm so he could be standing without collapsing.

"Alright, training begins now." Kakashi said. "Let's review chakra first." he said. "Understanding chakra is very important." he said.

"We know that." Sasuke said. "Why does it matter?"

"Sakura..." Kakashi said waving his hand to her.

"Chakra is the main source of a ninja's power. The energy has two forms, physical energy which is everywhere in the body, in each cell that works together." Sakura said. "And spiritual energy which is strengthened with training and experience. Both of these chakra must be drawn out at the same time and used together in order to perform jutsu. When both of these are used at the same time, along with hand signs, can focus and unleash the chakra." she said.

"Right on all points. Iruka-sensei taught you well." he said.

"Can we get on with training now?" Naru asked impatiently.

"Naru's right, who cares, we're already using and mastered chakra-" Sasuke started to say.  
"No! You have not mastered it. Maybe you can use it, but you have not mastered it. You must know how to draw out only the certain amount needed for Jutsu's... How you use it now, you are just wasting your chakra away. This means that you will run out of Chakra sooner." Kakashi said. "So, you must know how to balance the amounts of chakra, if you don't know that then its worthless and you'll end up dead." he said, Sasuke looked down a faint blush on his cheeks for being scolded.

"Okay, so how do we do this?" Sasuke asked.

"Climb a tree." Kakashi said.

"Climb a tree?!" they said, he chuckled.

"That's right, but there's just one rule." he said, they waited. "No hands."

"Huh?" Sakura asked tilting her head.

"You must be joking." Sasuke said.

"Am I? Let's see." He said, Naru slunk a little, they watched him walk to a tree and step up and walked along the tree by his feet.

"He's climbing straight up! Without his hands!" Sakura said, Naru blinked.

"Collect chakra in the bottom of your feet and use it to stick to the tree." he said as he stood on a branch upside down. "This is one way to apply the power of chakra." he said.

"Wait a minute! This is all really cute and all, but how is it going to help us fight against Zabuza?" Sakura asked.

"It's the only way to fight him Sakura. That's the entire goal of this training. You'll first learn to draw a certain amount of chakra into a certain point in your body. This can be difficult sometimes, even for advanced ninja. This training requires a subtle mix of physical and spiritual energy. The bottom of the feet are the most difficult place to do such a thing." he said. "Are you getting it now? If you can master this, you will be able to master almost any technique! - well almost any kind." he said. "This will also teach you to maintain a certain amount of chakra."

"So, exactly how do we do this?" Sasuke asked, Kakashi pulled three kunai out and threw them to the ground.

"Using those kunai, mark the area that you make it up to, and keep going higher and higher each time." he said. "At first you'll need to run at the tree until you get used to It." He said as he came down.

Sasuke and Sakura grabbed their kunai. Mamoru moved towards the kunai stopping right next to it as Naru grabbed the kunai and she slid off of him as they got to the tree, Naru put her hand on the felt the tree and let out a breath of air, Mamoru laid down out of the way to keep his eye on her, Kakashi sat next to a tree behind his three students to watch how they would do.

Sasuke ran up the tree and cursed as it cracked under his foot, he sliced the tree and flipped back and landed on the ground.

"This is fun!" Sakura said. They looked at her and saw her halfway up the tree sitting on the branch, her tongue sticking out with a smile.

"Well, someone gets this..." Kakashi said with a smile. Sasuke looked down ticked off that he was being upstaged, he looked towards Naru but she hadn't started yet.

 _Dobe probably can't even- huh!?_

His inner rant was stopped when Naru put her foot on the tree and began to slowly walk up the tree, she got almost to the middle before she slipped and dropped down. Sasuke almost snarled in anger at seeing that.

 _'_ _This is just like my training for seeing...'_ Naru thought. She closed her eyes and focused on her chakra, she felt it swirl around inside of her body. She pictured her feet and sent her chakra to them. Focus on the amount, not too much and not too little, just a good size layer. She thought and touched the tree to make sure she was on point, she began to walk up the tree slowly.

Kakashi watched Naru walk up the tree easily. _'Has she had this training before? Her chakra control is excellent … even better then Sakura and Sasuke's...'_ he thought wishing he could open his sharingan to take a good look at her chakra network but he was much too weak.

The team continued to practice through the whole day until Kakashi called for them to come back and eat supper and rest. As they headed back, Naru was silent, thinking about her training. _'I wonder...'_ she thought.

They came in and Tsunami was already finishing up on cooking supper. Naru and Mamoru sat at the end as Tsunami passed out the plates and food together.

Naru ate slowly slightly feeling the food discreetly trying to figure out where and what the food was.

Sakura looked at Inari who was sitting the silently and looking at a picture on the wall all through supper.

"Excuse me?" Sakura asked. "Why is that picture torn? I saw Inari staring at it during supper." Sakura asked causing the boy stiffen and look away from it. "It looks like there had been someone there..." She started to say. Tsunami gave a small smile, but Inari was glaring at her. She blinked as he stood up abruptly and stormed out.

"Inari!" Tsunami called and ran out after him.

"Did I say something wrong?" she asked.

Tsunami sighed.

"The one missing from the photo his name is Kaiza, he was like a father to Inari." Tsunami told everyone.  
"What happened?" Sakura asked pushing the subject.

"When Gato came to the island, Kaiza tried to stand up to him. He tried to stop him from taking over the island. Well Gato didn't like that and had his men abduct him. They beat him and hung him in village. As a final message to Wave his arms were cut off -" Tazuna said.  
"Why?" Naru asked.

"Because he would always say that 'If you love something, protect it with both of your arms'. Gato hung him in the village and called everyone there. He killed him right in front of us, and with that, he killed the hope of this land." He said, they gasped quietly. "Inari was traumatized by it, and after that, my little grandson was never the same, that's why I am building this bridge, I won't let Gato have his way." he said, they went quiet. "Inari doesn't believe in heroes or that people can do things that don't fit them..." he said, Naru stood up, they looked at her.

"Naru?" Sakura said.

"I'll prove it to him... that people can do anything." she said. "There are hero's in this world." She said, Mamoru got up and walked out with her, Kakashi watched and smirked a little.

~o0o~

Naru laid on the ground in a field sound asleep with the sun rising slowly in the sky. A person came up wearing a pink kimono and had long black hair hanging down. He blinked as he searched for herbs around and saw Naru laying there, he walked up and looked at the hatai-ate on her head and flashed back to a few days ago when he met the girl at the end of their battle with Zabuza.

He reached out and shook her gently, she snorted and blinked. "What are you doing way out here?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm training..." she said and sat up.

"Really? Is it for something dangerous?" The stranger in the Kimono asked.

"I'm just developing my skills as a ninja." she said and smiled. "What are you doing out here?" she asked.

"Collecting some herbs, actually all around here, my friend is really sick." he said. "Want to help?" he asked and began to pick, Naru slunk a little and felt along the ground and picked one.

"This?" She asked hopefully.  
"No, these." he said, Naru looked down and gulped. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I... I... uh..." she stopped.

"Can you see?" he asked, she stiffened and looked away. "You're blind?" he asked, she nodded a little. "How?"

"I... Heh- I'm disliked in my village and those people attacked me." she shrugged.

"Wow, and you're still a ninja?" The stranger asked surprised.  
"I'm not going to let some little handicap stop me from helping people, I have something to prove to people."  
"What's that?" he asked and sat down.

"That even if something like being blind or not being the smartest or fastest, shouldn't stop you from doing what you want." she said.

"I see, and what is your goal in life? Why do you keep going?" he asked.

"Well, I dunno, I never really thought about it." she said with a frown. "Are you a ninja?"  
"Sorta." he said and chuckled.

"Why do you?" she asked.

"I fight to protect someone precious to me, so that I can help them achieve their dreams." he said. "I would do anything to help them. When someone has someone precious they protect, that's when they become truly strong." he said.

"Wow..." She said. "That's really cool." she said, he chuckled.

"Thanks." he said and smiled. "I must be going." he said, Naru sighed quietly then nodded. "Don't you worry Naru." he said, she blinked in shock.

"How did you-"  
"You'll become strong, really strong, I believe that." he said and walked away, Naru looked with a frown, wondering just how that boy knew her name.

She heard steps in the grass, she perked up. "It's me Naru." Mamoru said.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

"Getting breakfast." he said, she chuckled and nodded, he sniffed and looked around. "Who-"  
"I don't know, it was some boy..." she said, he sighed and looked around carefully. "I had an idea..." she said.

"Hmm?"  
"I was thinking about this exercise, what if I can use it to help me see..." she said.

"How so?"  
"Maybe sending chakra out in waves so I can feel things around Me." she said.

"It's worth a shot, it will be difficult to master though." he said.

"One way to find out." she said and got up. "Let's give this a try before the others come." she said.

~o0o~

Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke walked out into the woods looking for their remaining teammate and so they could start training again.

"Naru! Where are you?" Sakura yelled, Kakashi spotted Mamoru sitting at the tree.

"Where is Naru?" he asked, Mamoru tipped his head up, they looked up and at the top was Naru sitting on a branch. "Congratulations Naru." he called, she shook her head and look in their direction and nodded.

Sasuke began to climb his tree again along with Sakura, Naru spent more of the time in the tree, she finally climbed back down slowly and set to focusing her chakra, Kakashi walked up to her.

"Naru?" he asked, she cocked her head. "What are you doing?"  
"Focusing." she said.

"Naru is something wrong?" he asked.

"How so?" she asked keeping her eyes shut still.

"Do you have a... I mean, is there something wrong that you can't move normally?" he asked.

"I can move normally." she said. "So I don't know what you are talking about." she said. "Mamoru." she said, he came up and she got on his back.

"Naru!" Kakashi barked, she flinched. "I don't like being treated like a fool... I know something is up." he said, Sasuke and Sakura watched, Naru sighed.

"Well, that's not my problem." she said. "Let's go." she said, Mamoru sighed and walked away, Kakashi gritted his teeth as he watched Naru leave.

Mamoru paused as they got to the water. "Naru..."  
"I know." she said and got off of him, she pulled her shoes off and walked to the water and sighed as cool water on her feet, she sat down leaving her feet in the water, she sighed as her hair blew gently, Mamoru sat there watching her. _'Oh Naru...'_ he thought.

That night everyone came in finally and ate their supper. Inari glared at Naru as she laughed a little, he took in her bruises and shook. They noticed him shaking.

"Why?" he whispered, they all looked at the boy. "Why do you do it?" He asked. Naru blinked a few times. "You're being idiots!" he yelled. "You're fighting a fight you'll never win!" He said picturing Kaiza that day.

"You're the idiot..." she said.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" he snarled. "You've never been through something so horrible and have no one by your side through it!" he snarled, Naru looked down and shook in anger, Mamoru gulped a little.

"You know what kid, you don't know anything about me, so don't act like you do! So what that happened to you?" she said, he frowned and continued to cry. "You're just a big baby!" she snarled and got up and slowly walked out.

"Naru!" Sakura snarled in anger, Inari cried and wiped the snot from his nose, Mamoru followed her quickly.

Kakashi sighed quietly as he looked at the hall where Naru left to, he looked back to Inari who was crying still, he stormed out and slammed the door shut, they sighed, Kakashi got up and walked out after him, he found Inari sitting on the dock staring out.

"Can I join ya?" he asked, Inari shrugged, Kakashi smiled and sat next to him. "Listen Inari, Naru didn't mean to hurt your feelings like that." he said, Inari sniffled. "You see, Naru, she'll know better than any of us." he said, Inari looked at him confused. "Naru's an orphan, she's been on her own her whole life and has gone through more than you know, more than any of us know... but in the time that I've been around her, I've never seen her really cry over it." he said, Inari looked at him and sniffled. "My guess is, she just got tired of It." he said and smiled at him, Inari looked down. "So, don't hold it against her." he said and got up and walked back inside leaving the boy out there to think over his words.

The next morning Kakashi check on Naru who was dead asleep and had very little chakra, he sighed and walked out informing Tsunami that he wants to let Naru stay there while he, Sasuke and Sakura head with Tazuna to the bridge.

They set out together, Inari looked at the door where Naru was and sighed quietly, he shook his head and began to help his mom clean up a little.

Naru woke up almost an hour later, Mamoru told her what Kakashi had said, she scrambled and got ready and both walked out, Tsunami gave her an apple and both headed out, Naru walked along side Mamoru, her hand on his back but was sending chakra out in waves.

"How is it going?" he asked.

"Good..." She said. "I can tell where you are and trees and things are, but its kinda fuzzy." She said and tripped on a rock.

They continued on and entered the woods, Naru paused, and Mamoru looked at her. "Naru?"

"Something... something just doesn't feel right." she said, he blinked. "I mean, I just- I dunno, I feel like we need to go back." she said, Mamoru looked around and glared at the cuts on the trees.

"Get on." he said, she nodded and jumped on his back and he took off running back to the house.


	7. Land Of Waves Part III

_**This is pretty sad chapter, fair warnings. make sure you're not around anyone who will think you're weird, get tissues and something/someone to cuddle, your heart will hurt :) Enjoy**_

 _ **Chapter 7. Wave Arc Part III Conclusion**_

Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna arrived at the bridge and gasped in horror as they saw the remaining builders laying on the ground unconscious.

"What's going on here!?" Tazuna said as mist started to roll in. Kakashi growled realizing the threat.

"Sasuke! Sakura!" He barked out sharply. They jumped in front of Tazuna and pulled out their kunai knowing what he needed them to do. "I knew he was still alive, he just couldn't wait for round two." he said.

"This is the hidden mist jutsu again." Sakura said with fear in her voice as Sasuke shook a little.

"Long time no see Kakashi, I see you still have those brats with you." His voice rang out from seemingly nowhere. "Pathetic! Look at that one, he's still shaking... although I see the one with potential isn't here." Zabuza taunted from the mist.

"I'm shaking…from excitement!" Sasuke said with a smirk as five Zabuza's suddenly appeared around them.

"Go ahead Sasuke." Kakashi said while keeping his eye open for the real Zabuza. Sasuke smirked and jumped in the air and sliced each of them down and they dropped into water.

"It seems your brat has gotten a little better." Zabuza said as he appeared from the mist with the hunter ninja. "Maybe you will have a rival Haku." he said.

"It seems so." he replied.

"So, I was right about you, you were is partner, but you wore the mask to fool people." Kakashi stated.

"You need to stop hiding behind that mask!" Sakura said.

"He's mine!" Sasuke said, Sakura gasped with a blush. "Hiding behind that mask like a clown! I hate guys like you the most, so stop hiding!" he said.

"You're so cool Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said.

 _'Didn't I just say that?'_ Kakashi thought and shook his head. _'She'll never change...'_ He thought.

"He is impressive, even though they are water clones and not as strong...still..." Haku said.

"So what? That gave us the advantage, now use it." Zabuza ordered.

"Right!" he said and began to spin around, Sasuke gasped as he got enclosed in a dome of ice.

"What!?" he exclaimed in shock.

~o0o~

"Inari? Come help me with the dishes!" Tsunami called into her house.

"Coming!" he replied as he made his way to the kitchen.

The front door smashed open and Inari ran out and saw two men standing there known as Zori and Waraji, each holding their own katana.

"You're Tazuna's daughter right? Sorry, but you're coming with us." Waraji said.

"Mom!" Inari said coming out farther.

"A kid?" Zori questioned.  
"Inari don't come in here! Run away!" Tsunami screamed.

"Should we take him too?" Waraji asked eyeing Inari.

"We were told only one hostage." Zori replied keeping his eye on the two.  
"Then should I just kill him?" Waraji asked as he moved towards Inari raising his Katana causing him to freeze in fear and his body to start shaking violently.

"Stop!" Tsunami yelled, they looked back at the woman. "If you touch my son I'll bite off my tongue and kill myself. You need a hostage right?! Take me and leave him alone, I will go quietly." she said, Inari looked at his mom through his tears.

"Thank your mom kid." Zori replied.

"Damn, I wanted to cut something too with this new blade." Waraji stated sadly.

"You just cut up a bunch of stuff on the way here. Hurry up and grab her. We don't want to be late getting back to the boss." he said.

Inari sank to his knees as they left, he cried hard and buried his face into his knees. _'Mom, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I'm too weak to protect you, I don't want to die. I'm so scared.'_ He thought and gripped his arms tight.

 _"You don't know what I can or can't do."_

 _"The only ignorant one here is you." Naru's voice echoed in his head, he blinked._

 _"Naru, she'll know better than any of us." Kakashi's voice echoed. "Naru's an orphan, she's been on her own her whole life and has gone through more than you know, more than any of us know... but in the time that I've been around her, I've never seen her really cry over it." He said with a shrug. "My guess is, she just got tired of crying because she realized that it never changes anything."_

 _"You're just a big baby!"_

 _"If you love something and if it's really important to you, even if it costs you your life, protect it with both your arms!" Kaiza's voice echoed._

Inari looked at his shaking hands. He then looked out the broken door and glared and got up. _'They're all so incredible, so cool, and so strong. I will also become strong! Like dad.'_ He thought and wiped the tears from his eyes.

Zori and Waraji walked from the house with Tsunami tied up walking between them.

"You know, looking at how pretty you are, it makes me a little disappointed knowing what's going to happen to you. Such a waste of a beautiful body." Waraji said eying her as Tsunami slowed down in disgust.

"Walk faster." Zori barked as he shoved her.

"WAIT!" they turned around and saw Inari standing there glaring at them.

"Inari!" Tsunami called in horror.

"It's that kid."  
"You... You…get away from my mommy!" he yelled and charged at them.

"Stupid kid."

"Cut him."

"INARI!" Tsunami screamed earning a harsh punch to the gut. She gasped and fell to the dock and hit her head causing her to pass out. Inari closed his eyes as he got closer. They sliced at him but as their blades connected with him all of a sudden a log cut in three pieces hit the ground with Inari's hat on it. They gasped in shock.

"A substitution."

"Sorry for being late, but the Hero always arrives at the last minute." Naru said. They turned and glared as they saw Naru standing beside Mamoru with Inari on his back.

"Naru it's you..." Inari said as he climbed down off of Mamoru's back.

"Who else?" she said with a smile. "You're brave kid." she said.

"It's one of those puny brats Tazuna hired!"  
"Get her!" they roared and ran towards her.

"They're coming!" He said in fear. Naru threw two kunai at them which they dodged.

"Try something else!" Inari shouted in a panic.

"I did." Naru said with a smile. There was a crack as Naru suddenly disappeared. Waraji screamed as Mamoru sliced at him with his claws. "One down." He said. Naru suddenly appeared next to the other and kicked Zori in the head causing him to fall into the water below.

"Whoa!" Inari said, Naru smiled. "How did you know they were coming?" Inari asked.

"Gut feeling." she said.

"Well, I'm sorry." he said, she blinked confused. "I judged you without knowing anything." he said.

"It's okay kid." she said. "Stay with your mom, they shouldn't be any more problems." she said, he nodded.

"Naru, we need to go now." Mamoru said, she nodded and pulled out a small tanto.

"Here." she said, handing it to him. He took it and gulped.

"Thanks." he said, she nodded and climbed on and they took off into the woods, Inari watched and helped his mom into the house again.

~o0o~

Sakura and Tazuna watched in shock as Sasuke tried to fight against Haku's jutsu but was having no success. Everything that Sasuke did to try to break the jutsu did not work. Haku threw senbon at him and Sasuke screamed in pain as he was cut and stabbed by the needles. He fell to the ground shaking in pain and struggled to get up. He got to his knees and paused, spitting blood out and growling in anger.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screamed.

"Sakura! Pay attention!" Kakashi barked as he dodged Zabuza's swings towards him.

"Same goes for you Kakashi!" He taunted and disappeared into the thick mist. Kakashi looked around carefully trying to think where he would attack next. He gasped in shock and ran towards Sakura and Tazuna where he knew Zabuza would be.

Sasuke got up and ran towards the mirror about to punch it but he stumbled as a senbon went through his leg and it buckled as his nerves screamed in pain.

"Why do you get up?" Haku asked. "It's pointless you know." he said, Sasuke panted and glared at him, his eyes shining red. "Sharingan, so you have a bloodline limit too eh?" he said.

 _'It's not perfect but... at least I can now see where I need to hit... and it's right there!'_ He thought and ran towards the front as Haku got ready to take the boy down, holding three senbon in each hand and his reflection appeared in all the mirrors, Sasuke roared and launched his attack about to hit the weak spot.

Suddenly Sakura's loud bloodcurdling scream sounded, he stumbled and looked over.

 _'NOW!'_ Haku thought and threw the senbon, Sasuke screamed as he hit the ground and panted, his vision blurring and beginning to fade.

 _'No…I said…I wouldn't- not until I …. I... killed him. No.'_ He thought then slumped, he saw Haku appeared above him. _'This is the end...'_ He thought.

Sakura shook in fear as Kakashi groaned in pain and held the large cut across his torso. He glanced over at Haku's jutsu not hearing Sasuke or Haku anymore. _'What's going on?'_ He thought.

"Don't worry Kakashi, your boy is done for, he's probably at Haku's mercy right now! You won't have to worry about bringing a dead student home because you will both be joining him too!" Zabuza said.

"Not Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said.

"Sakura, guard Tazuna and pay attention!" Kakashi barked as Zabuza focused and the mist on the bridge got thicker than before.

"Y... yes sir." She said and he ran into the mist disappearing from her sight, Tazuna stood close to Sakura on guard shaking. _'Sasuke-kun... be okay.'_ She prayed and bit her lip.

~o0o~

Haku pulled the kunai out that he had caught and held it. ' _If he had that power the whole fight then it may have went in his favor.'_ He thought. He looked at Sasuke laying on the ground still, he sighed and heard the clashes of Zabuza and Kakashi's fight.

Haku paused as he heard a faint running. He peered through his dome and the mist and saw the faint shape of someone running. He realized it was Naru coming in, he glanced back and saw movement in the mist that he knew was Zabuza battling. He smirked releasing his jutsu and stepped back leaving Sasuke on the ground there as he focused and faded into the mist.

Naru held on to Mamoru as they ran on the bridge. "I can smell them close by." Mamoru rumbled, Naru nodded. Suddenly Mamoru skidded to a stop causing Naru to nearly fall.

"Mamoru?" she asked, he growled.

"A trap." he said, he grunted as he looked around.

"What's going on?"  
"How can you consider yourself a ninja?" a voice echoed, Naru turned her head trying to find the source of the voice.

Mirrors suddenly formed around them causing Mamoru to look around in shock and growl as he watched Haku appear in the mirrors.

"It's just sad you know that?" he said.

"Who are you?" Naru growled.

"A blind ninja." he said, Naru stiffened and held Mamoru's collar tighter. "Someone who can't even live without a cat to help her? You'll never a great ninja." he said.

"Shut up!" Naru barked and gulped hard.

"I wanted to fight you since I met you the other day." he said, Naru frowned.

"Naru!" Mamoru barked and shoved her out of the way as Haku threw some senbon towards them.

"Sorry." she whispered.

"See? You'd be dead if it weren't for your pet cat." he said, Mamoru growled lowly.

Naru brought a hand towards her weapon pouch and let her chakra flow out in waves from her feet. _'Are those mirrors?'_ She thought with a frown.

"Be ready." Mamoru said, Naru nodded and pulled out a kunai and held it tight.

Haku launched some senbon out. Naru deflected them with all with her kunai, Mamoru smirked. _'Hmm.'_ Haku thought. He made his image appear all around and he shot senbon out, Naru dodged but yelped when she got cut up a few times. Mamoru growled and pulled a couple senbon from his leg.

"Are you okay?" he rumbled.

"Yeah." she said and continued to send her chakra out in waves trying to locate where her opponent was exactly. _'I can't tell which one is him... maybe if I...'_ She thought getting an idea.

She stepped back and focused. She charged forward towards Haku who got ready to counter her, but she suddenly disappeared. He looked around in shock. _'Where did she go!?'_ He thought in a panic. Naru appeared in front of the mirror he was in and punched it hard then kicked off.

She skidded back, Haku blinked as he saw a large crack in his mirror. _'Impossible!'_ He thought.

"Why are you fighting? You won't beat me, even your comrade has fallen to Me." he said trying to distract her, Naru cocked her head. "What's his name? Hmm?"  
"Sasuke?" she whispered.

"Ah, yes, he fell quickly, pathetic really. It seems you have a little bit more talent than he did, but not much. I say again, what can a blind ninja do?" he said, Naru growled and threw her kunai out, Haku deflected it and Naru cried out and fell to the ground when three senbon were lodged in her leg, Mamoru jumped in front of her and roared, chakra shot out and hit Haku, the force knocked him out from his mirror, Naru got up slowly limping.

"We need to get out of here." Mamoru said.

"Yeah." Naru nodded, he ran to the mirror, he skidded to a stop as Haku appeared all around.

"No more games." he said, the dome shined and Naru screamed in pain as senbon shot out from all around repeatedly stabbing them both, Naru hit the ground and shook in pain and struggled up, Mamoru blinked and got up slowly limping, senbon needles sticking out of him in all directions.

"Why would you be fighting for someone like Zabuza?" Naru asked struggling to get up.

"Because, he is precious to me, I fight for his dreams to come true, and no one will stand in my way." he said.

 _'His voice is so familiar.'_ Naru thought trying place it.

Mamoru shoved Naru out of the way as senbon came out, he growled as he pulled the senbon from his paw, he snorted.

"Naru, pay attention." he growled, she nodded and gulped.

"Sorry." she said.

"You need to just give up! You won't get to accomplish your dream! A ninja like you as handicapped as you are, you'll be dead before you're 15!" he said, she growled and ran forward and punched at the mirror, Haku shot his senbon out, she dropped to the ground, Haku let out a snort, Naru got up and panted.

"Why not come out and fight us for real? Not in a mirror you chicken!" she shouted in anger.

"Why should I?" he asked, she growled a little. "Have you ever thought about your past? What caused you to be how you are now?" he asked.

"What?"  
"What happened in your past? What led you to become what you are now?"  
"I don't understand." Naru said.

"Naru, ignore him." Mamoru growled.

"Think about it!" Haku exclaimed. "You must have done something wrong in your life to be given the curse of being blind! What did you do that Kami decided to make your life a living Hell!" Haku said as he noticed her staring at him frozen in shock. "My curse was when I discovered I had a Kekkai Genkai which caused my father to try to murder me! My mother died protecting me and I ended up killing everyone else in my village." Haku shouted in anger bringing up the memory he wished he could just forget.

"SO TELL ME! WHAT DID YOU DO THAT MADE YOU LIKE THIS!? WHY DO YOU BELIEVE THAT SOMEONE LIKE YOU CAN CONTINUE ON THE ROAD YOU HAVE CHOSEN IN LIFE!?" Haku demanded.

"I…I don't know…" Naru said as she started to get teary eyed. "I don't know what I did to deserve…this." She said as she brought her hands up to her eyes and waved them in front of them. "I don't know why I have gone through my whole life being hated and ignored and rejected by everyone. It's not fair!" She shouted. "I used to be able to see until I was 9. Then I got attacked and kidnapped from my own home! I don't know what they did to me or why they did it, but it doesn't matter because the damage is done." Naru stated coldly.

"All I can do now is continue on living my life and trying to make it the best it can possibly be. For all the pain and misfortune this has caused me there was one single thing that has made this bearable for me. Because of this horrible incident in my life I got my one and only true friend Moru from it." She said reaching out for him.

Haku, realizing that his plans to demoralize her by forcing her to relive any painful memories from her past wasn't working, decided he needed to end this quickly because he noticed that her wounds were already healing from the Senbon that had nicked her. He quickly came up with a plan from one piece of precious information that she had unintentionally given to him.

He turned his attention towards the wounded Mamoru who was up on his feet but a little unsteady. Even so he knew that the large snow leopard wouldn't be easy to hit so he would need to formulate a plan.

"Naru." Mamoru whispered to her. "I have a plan that may help you win this fight. You remember back when you defended Iruka from Mizuki?" He asked.

 _-Flashback-_

 _"They've been lying to you your whole life Naru. Since the decree twelve years ago." Mizuki said with a smirk._

 _"Wha…what decree?" Naru asked with hesitation._

 _"Why everyone knows it. Everyone except you. Even right now Iruka is trying to keep me from telling you about it." He replied._

 _"What is this decree? Why does everyone else know about it?" Naru questioned finally close to knowing why she was always treated the way she had been._

 _"No Mizuki! It's forbidden!" Iruka shouted in a panic._

 _"The decree is that no one can tell you that the Demon fox is inside you! The Fox spirit that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed our village has taken over your body!" Mizuki said with a giant grin on his face._

 _Naru froze hearing that. 'So that's why everyone treats me the way they do. That's the reason why they did those things to me. That's the reason why I'm like this now…' She thought dejectedly._

 _"Now I'm going to do the world a favor and rid you from it!" Mizuki shouted as he threw his Fuma Shuriken at Naru who had dropped her guard._

 _"NARU GET DOWN!" Iruka shouted as he dove in the path of the Shuriken taking the blow that would have been fatal for Naru, earning him a nasty wound on his back._

 _"Naru…" Iruka gasped. "Run." He said before he collapsed on top of her._

 _Realizing the danger she was in she tried to get up but couldn't because she was trapped under Iruka's weight._

 _"Well looky here. He tried to protect you and in turn succeed in trapping you so that you couldn't escape." Mizuki said with a grin. "Now with no one coming to help you there is no way you can escape this time…" He started ready his other Fuma Shuriken but suddenly had to jump back as a figure leaped out at him._

 _'Hmm what a strange animal to be here in the Forest of Death. Must be something new to keep everyone on their toes.' He thought as he eyed the large Snow Leopard that had lunged at him._

 _"Naru!" Mamoru shouted as he appeared next to her getting out from under Iruka. Mizuki looked over in shock realizing that it wasn't an animal that had just attacked him but a summon that had._

 _She turned her head towards the direction she heard his voice come from. "Moru…Is…Is it true? Did you know what I am? Did you know that I…I am the Demon fox…" She asked him with fear in her voice._

 _"Naru…you are not the Nine-tailed fox." Iruka rasped. "You are Naru…Uzumaki. Citizen of Konoha. Not the Fox."_

 _"You are still conscious from that hit? I thought I had hit you in the heart. Well no matter. This time I will finish you off!" Mizuki stated as he prepared to throw his last Fuma Shuriken only to be thrown off balance from an explosion of dark chakra._

 _"Don't even think about it! I will not let you hurt any of my friends!" Naru said growling as her Chakra continued to fill the air around them. As she stood there she started to notice something. She noticed that she was able to make out some figures in the immediate area around her._

 _'Wait a second. What's happening! I can sorta see again!' She thought excitedly._

 _As soon as she realized this she launched herself forward to attack Mizuki who was still off guard from the sudden appearance of this new dark chakra._

 _Naru gave Mizuki the beating of a life time due to the boost from the Fox's power. After she had knocked him out she started to walk in the direction she saw Iruka in only for the world to fade back to darkness._

 _'No. NO. NO. NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!' She screamed in her mind. She tried to rush over to him before everything became dark again, just to see Iruka's face one more time. She wanted to finally see what Mamoru's face looked like._

 _In her haste she wasn't paying attention to her footing and ended up tripping and falling face first in the ground breaking out in tears realizing that the last thing she saw this time before the darkness was her own two feet as she tripped and landed on the ground before she finally passed out from exhaustion._

 _-End flashback-_

"Yea Moru, I remember. I was able to see again, even though it was only for a short time. But how does that help us? We were never able to get it to happen again." She asked remembering how much time she spent trying to figure out how she had been able to see again.

"Naru I think it had something to do with the Fox's chakra being released. You tapped into it without knowing it. You haven't tapped into that power since that day and we just have to find a way to get you to do it again." Mamoru said.

As he finished telling her this he realized that Haku was about to launch an attack on Naru who still had left her guard down. _'OH NO!'_ he thought as his body moved instinctively to protect her.

"NARU!" Mamoru roared as Haku launched at her, she gasped and flinched. Mamoru launched up and slammed into Haku causing him to cry out in pain as Mamoru's large claws sliced into his chest and his other knocked his mask clean off of his face while being launched backwards. Haku hit the ground and rolled back to a kneeling position clutching as his wounds.

Naru pulsed her Chakra and saw Mamoru standing in between her and Haku, who was kneeling down panting hard. "Moru! You did it!" Naru started to cheer until Mamoru suddenly fell to the ground with a solid thump.

Naru gasped and crawled forward feeling her way towards where she heard him fall. As she came up on him she ran her hands across his body feeling the various Senbon sticking out, pulling them out as gently as she could. "It's going to be okay Moru." She said to him, as her eyes started to get teary, but not believing the words herself. She heard his breathing getting softer and his chest was rising and dropping slower and getting even slower.

"Mamoru…" Naru cried and pet him gently.

"Naru…I'm sorry." he panted.

"Wh... why?" she said shaking, tears pouring down her cheeks.

"I... I'm sorry, I'm... not... - uh... not gonna be here for you anymore." he said. "At least I was able to protect you for this short time." he said.

"Mamoru! No! Don't talk like that!" she cried out and wrapped her arms around his neck, he panted and closed his eyes. "No! You can't leave me!" she cried, tears fell and hit his face, he looked up at her and panted. "I need you!" she said.

"You can do it, I know you'll be... a great ninja." he panted and gasped and slumped letting out a breath of air, Naru gasped and ran her shaky hand through his fur, she let out a choked sob when she didn't feel his chest rising, she put her head down but couldn't hear his heart beating.

"Mamoru..." she sobbed and hugged him tight, burying her face into his soft fur.

"Is …. Is this the first time you've had a precious one die in front of you? It's part of being a ninja. You need to grow up." Haku rasped getting up, Naru stayed silent while shaking. "He died because he jumped in the way. It was stupid. He threw his life away. For what!? A -"  
"Shut up." Naru growled, Haku watched, he blinked as smoke rose around her, she cried and gently set Mamoru's head down and sobbed, she growled and looked up, Haku gasped as he saw her once light blue eyes now blood red. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" she screamed as red Chakra exploded from her dispersing itself in the air around them both. Haku stumbled backwards at the sudden explosion and tried to head back into one of his mirrors.

Naru launched out with a roar and grabbed Haku. He cried out as she spun around and flung him into one of his mirrors putting a large crack in it. He fell to the ground and screamed in pain as he heard an audible snap letting him know that she had just broke some of his bones in his body.

 _'What's going on? She got so much faster and it's like she can see me now!'_ He thought. Naru disappeared, he looked around quickly trying to locate her only for Naru to appear above him and flip bringing her foot down on his shoulder. He cried out in pain and stumbled backwards, he looked at Naru, she growled at him, her canines were longer and cutting into her lips, she roared, he skidded back from the strength of the chakra.

 _'What is she?'_ He thought. Naru ran straight at him, he blinked in shock and moved to the side, she stumbled then went after him. _'How?! She shouldn't be able to track me! She's blind!'_ He thought in shock.

 _'I can see him now, just like last time. Thanks you stupid fox. I'm going to use this power to kill him!'_ Naru thought.

Naru fell and skidded when Haku launched senbon and it stabbed her leg, chakra began to bubble around her and the wounds on her body healed, Haku panted, Naru roared again and he froze, his body shaking in fear.

-*o*-

Kakashi panted and held his bleeding wound as he kept his guard up for Zabuza, he gasped as he felt the chakra shoot out. _'What is that chakra? Is it Zabuza? - No... I know this! It's-'_ he turned towards the area that the chakra was coming from. _'Naru... when did she get here? What's going on?'_ He thought then cursed. _'Damn it! I need a plan.'_ Kakashi thought as he suddenly sensed something. _'About damn time. Time to end this'_ He thought.

-*o*-

Naru launched and tackled Haku to the ground and began to punch and slice at him with her clawed hands. He let out a blood curdling cry and then went silent. Naru panted and finally look at what she had done. She gulped hard as the smell of blood hit her nose, she stumbled back and emptied her stomach. She let out a whimper and she felt the fox's chakra slowly start to fade. She sent some chakra out and crawled slowly towards Mamoru, where her chakra was bouncing off his location. She cried and fell to her knees and buried her face into his soft fur. "Mamoru..." she whimpered.

-*o*-

Zabuza yelled in pain as he was sliced with a sharp blade, the mist began to clear slowly and he looked to see Kakashi standing in front of him and behind stood another jounin with trench knives shining with chakra.

"About time Asuma." Kakashi said, he snorted.

"You seemed like you were in over your head." he said, Kakashi pulled out his kunai.

"Let's end this fast. I know you felt it too. We need to see what is happening right now." he said, Zabuza looked around and snorted as he saw Haku's body lying on the ground and blood leaking everywhere.

Kakashi and Asuma shot out, he swung his blade towards Kakashi, he dropped down and Zabuza growled in anger as Asuma sliced his arm, Kakashi kicked up and Zabuza sailed through the air and hit the ground hard, his blade sliding across the cement.

"SASUKE!" Kakashi heard, he looked and saw Sakura bawling over the Uchiha laying on the ground.

"Shikamaru, Kiba, Hinata! Help them and defend the bridge builder." Asuma said, the three ran out to check on the Sakura and Sasuke.

Zabuza got up slowly stumbling and groaning in pain, he panted and glared at the two jounin.

"I'll destroy you!" he said and ran towards them roaring. Suddenly they heard the tapping of a cane. Zabuza stopped mid charge and turned to face a small man in a business suit looking at them.

"Well, well, well Zabuza, it seems you're having a problem here." he said and chuckled, there was a large group of thugs standing behind him.

"What is this Gato!?" he snarled.

"Simple, you're too expensive, so I decided to take you off the payroll." Gato replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  
"What?!" he snarled.

"That's right. You've taken too long and look at you, you look as demonic as a wet kitten." he said. "But even these thugs cost a good amount, so if you can manage to take some of them out before you die, I'd appreciate it." he said and chuckled.

"Alright Kakashi, it seems I'm not his employee anymore, so our fight is over." Zabuza said.

"Yeah." Kakashi said.

Zabuza groaned and stepped forward, he grabbed his blade, just barely able to hold the heavy blade with his wounded arms. He glared at Gato and ran forward. The man screamed and ran away from him.

"Kill him!" he screamed, they cheered then gasped as Zabuza's chakra shot up, they froze then screamed as he ran through them slicing them clean in half, a few stabbed the man making him stumble Gato stopped at the edge of the bridge and watched in slow motion as Zabuza ran towards him.

"He's the devil!" he screamed, Zabuza roared and sliced, he cut him in half then groaned and fell to the ground still, the remaining thugs stared in shock at the sight and then started to flee. If a badly wounded Shinobi could do that, they wouldn't want to fight one who looked ready for battle while the other looked slightly tired.

Kakashi and Asuma watched in shock of the scene. "Sensei!" Shikamaru called, both shook their head and headed over to the group they could just barely see through the mist.

They came up, Kakashi looked down as he saw the Uchiha laying on the ground. Asuma sighed.

"Where is Naru?" Shikamaru asked looking around in a panic. Hinata focused and activated her Byakugan.

"There!" she pointed then gasped and looked down.

"What?!" Kakashi asked, they peered and saw Naru sitting next to Mamoru still running her hands through his fur shaking him. Kakashi cursed and looked away shaking in anger.

"Sakura, it's hard to breathe with you on top of Me." a voice rasped, they gasped and looked at the Uchiha laying there blinking, Sakura cried out and hugged him, he groaned in pain.

-*o*-

"I can't be without you Mamoru. Maybe... what he said... is... it true, maybe I could have done something to stop them that night..." she said. "Then we wouldn't of met... and you... you wouldn't of died for me..." she cried and hugged him again. "I can't be alone." she said and shook. "Not again." she said and sobbed in his fur and let out a scream of anger and sadness.

"Naru!" she heard Hinata's voice say, she ignored it and sat up slowly. "I'd rather die than be without you." she said and took in a shaky breath and gulped hard, she grabbed her kunai with a shaky hand and sniffled.

"I won't do this close to you. I know you hate bloodshed." she said and let out a shaky breath, she got up slowly and backed up a few steps.

"Naru!" Shikamaru's concerned voice rang to her ears.

"I'll see you soon Mamoru." she said and grabbed the kunai with both hands and pointed it to her stomach.

"NARU!" Kakashi yelled in horror lunging towards her as he saw what she was planning on doing. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath and heard them running towards her. Everything seemed to slow down as she gulped and brought the Kunai down towards her stomach...

-*o*-

They all looked at Naru as she screamed, Sakura helped Sasuke up and they looked towards her.

"Naru!" Hinata called trying to get the girl's attention but she ignored them.

"Did Haku take him down?" Asuma asked, Kakashi looked at his broken student crying her eyes out, she stood up and backed up.

"Naru!" Shikamaru yelled.

Naru closed her eyes and grabbed the kunai and pointed it towards her stomach, Kakashi gasped in horror seeing what she was about to do.

"NARU!" he yelled, they ran towards her but she brought it closer to her stomach.

They stopped when Naru abruptly stopped moving, the kunai mere inches from stabbing herself. Everyone froze and looked at Shikamaru standing there, his shadow stretched out and connected to Naru.

"Good job Shikamaru!" Asuma said with a smirk.

"LET ME GO SHIKAMARU!" Naru screamed. "I can't live without him! I don't want to be alone again!" she sobbed and shook, Shikamaru held his hand out making Naru do the same. "NO SHIKAMARU! DON'T STOP ME! LET ME GO BE WITH MORU! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT ITS LIKE TO BE ALONE!" Naru screamed while tears were flowing down her face. He opened his hand, the kunai from Naru's hand dropped to the cement, she sobbed and struggled to get free from his shadow.

He walked forward and she did the same towards him while she kept struggling and sobbing. He finished walking towards her as she continued to scream at him to let her go. He dropped the jutsu and immediately grabbed her pulling her into a hug.

"LET ME GO SHIKA! LET ME BE WITH MAMORU!" Naru sobbed as she started to pound her fists on his back.

Realizing that he wasn't going to let her go she completely broke down and started to sob even harder into his shoulder.

"He died for me! I can't live without Mamoru! I won't!" she said and shook.

"Stop Naru." He said and held her. He looked at the large cat laying on the ground, he closed his eyes and listened to Naru's sobbing, she began to push against him, he held her tight stopping her movements, she bawled even harder.

"Naru, you're not alone." he whispered. "I'm here for you. You won't be alone." he whispered, he glanced back and saw both teams standing there watching, she cried louder and screamed.

"NO! I hate you! Leave me alone! I want to die! I can't be without him!" she screamed.

"Naru."  
"NO!" she said, he grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

"Stop it!" he barked, she stopped and blinked in shock never actually hearing Shikamaru yell before. "If you end your life right now then his sacrifice was for nothing!" he barked. "Mamoru gave his life for you! For you to keep going!" he said, Naru gulped then hung her head and shook her head.

"He's the only one I..." she stopped and cried, he hugged her again.

"You troublesome idiot. I already told you that you won't be alone." he whispered, Hinata came up and touched her shoulder and hugged her, she sobbed.

"You won't be alone Naru, I promise." Hinata whispered in her ear.

"Come on, we'll say goodbye." Shikamaru said and got up slowly pulling Naru with him, she hugged him and he walked with her over to Mamoru, Kakashi watched, his throat burned from the feeling of tears he was holding back.

Shikamaru stopped at Mamoru's body, he gently let Naru slide down to her knees. She sobbed and covered her face and shook her head.

"I can't..." she sobbed, he sighed and blinked a tear fell to the ground, he looked at Naru again then at Mamoru and blinked in shock as he saw the snow leopard's chest rising and falling a little, he crouched down and looked at Mamoru's face, his eyes opened a little and he blinked a few times.

Shikamaru gasped quietly, Naru let out a shaky breath and reached out to pet him again, his tail came up and tickled her nose, she giggled and rubbed it, she gasped and grabbed his tail, he let out a small purr and tickled her nose again like he use to do when they first met a few years ago when she was getting used to being blind.

"M…Moru?" She pleaded, hoping that what she thought happened actually happened. Mamoru groaned and stirred trying to sit up.

"Naru." he purred, she cried out and launched at him, he groaned in pain as she hugged him crying into his fur. "That hurts Naru-chan." he said letting his tail tickle her again, she sobbed and held him.

"I thought I lost you." she sobbed, he sighed curled his body around her, she held him and snuggled against his side.

~o0o~

Almost a week and a half later both teams were still resting at Tazuna's house, Naru was barely leaving Mamoru's side and was practically fussing over the large snow leopard, even though she was dealing with her own wounds and low chakra.

"Naru." he purred and bumped her.

"I wanna make sure you're okay." she said feeling his bandages.

"I'm fine." he said and smiled, he got up and stretched with a yowl and shook out.

"Where-?"

"I'm gonna get some lunch. Will you be okay?" he said.

"Yeah." she nodded with a smile, Shikamaru came in and smirked, Mamoru licked her cheek and trotted out and Shikamaru walked in, Naru looked towards him.

"It's me." he said, she nodded a little and leaned against the wall. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah." she said with a small shrug, Shikamaru crouched down next to her, she looked towards him.

"Naru, we gotta talk." he said, she cocked her head, he reached out and grabbed her head with his hand squeezing her cheeks a little, she blinked in shock. "You listen to me." he said quieter and in a serious voice. "You ever try that again and you'll get it, from me." he said.

"Wha-?"

"Trying to kill yourself." he said, she slunk a little. "You are far too important to me, I don't even want to find out or see you ever try to do that again! You understand."

"I thought everything was too troublesome for you." she said with a smirk.

"Naru." he said, the smile fell. "Things may be too troublesome, but you're not." he said, she blushed a little and he smirked. "Now, if you ever need me, you come find me." he said. "Understand?" he said nodding her head, she giggled.

"Yeah." she said.

"Good." he said and let her jaw go, she smiled a little, he reached out and brushed her bangs up, she blushed darker red and he chuckled, she stuck her tongue out, he laughed and pulled back and she blushed.

Steps sounded and Sakura came in followed by Sasuke and Kiba. "What's going on?" Shikamaru asked finally looking away from Naru.

"We're going home finally." Kiba said with bit of a complaint, Shikamaru rolled his eyes at Kiba's attitude.

"Nice." Naru said and got up slowly and held the wall and walked outside, she sat on the dock. "Moru?"  
"Yeah?" he said holding a fish in his jaw, he bit down and it stopped flopping, he walked up to her.

"We're going to be heading home." she said, he put the fish down.

"Okay." he said, she smiled.

-*o*-

The next morning both teams headed out walking along the newly built bridge, Tazuna, Tsunami, Inari and a few workers walked with them, Naru had her hand on Mamoru's back, refusing to climb on his back with his wounds.

"We have a gift for Naru-chan." he said, she cocked her head looking back at him, he chuckled.

"It was my idea!" Inari said with a big grin, Naru smiled a little but her heart jumped as they said that, how would she know, Mamoru glanced at her knowing she was worried.

They arrived at the end and turned around, Mamoru looked up and smiled. "The great Naru bridge?" he said, Naru smiled with a blush.

"It's to say thanks for helping us." Inari said, she smiled.

"Thanks everyone." she said and rubbed her head.

"You better come back and visit sometime!" Inari said.

"I promise!" she said, Inari sniffled suddenly and ran forward and hugged her, she smiled and returned it.

"Thanks." he whispered, she chuckled and ruffled his hair. "H..here." he said and put the tanto in her hand that she gave him.

"Keep it." she said and winked, he took it back, she smiled and kissed his cheek, he blushed a little and smiled, she chuckled and got up.

"Alright everyone, let's get home." Asuma said, they nodded.

"Bye!" Naru waved and put her hand on Mamoru's back gently as they all waved and called their goodbyes.

The team walked along the path heading back to Konoha slowly, Naru sent chakra out as much as she could with her still somewhat exhausted chakra reserves, she grunted as she tripped on a rock and grumbled giving the ground a dirty look, Mamoru smirked.  
"Hey, hop on." Mamoru said.

"No! You're still healing." she said. "I'm fine! I said." she said with a giggle.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru said while he reached out and wrapped his arm through hers and pulled her close to him causing her to get a large blush on her face. "If you won't listen to Mamoru then I guess I'm going to have to make sure you don't hurt yourself heading back." He replied lazily.

"Yeah Naru. Like we said. We won't leave you alone again." Hinata said with a smile while she came up on Naru's other side.

Kakashi watched them from over his book. He frowned a little. Asuma looked at him, he gave him his usual smile and he looked back at Naru.

 _'I think it's time I had a chat with someone…'_ He thought.


End file.
